THE  SOUTHERN 

CHRISTIAN  REPOSITORY. 


Vol.  I.  RALEIGH,  MAY,  1S-12.  No.  1. 

,TO  THE  READER. 

The  present  Periodical  is  offered  to  the  denomination,  partly  as  a  substitute 
for  the  Recorder  and  Watchman,  and  partly  as  a  Repository  of  Literature 
and  Theology,  adapted  generally  to  the  wants  of  the  South.  When  we  took 
leave  of  the  readers  of  the  Recorder,  in  December  last,  we  were  confident  in 
the  expectation,  that  that  paper  would  be  resumed  in  the  course  of  a  few  months. 
We  had  made  a  conditional  transfer  of  our  list  to  our  brethren  of  South  Carolina; 
measures  had  been  adopted  for  the  attainment  of  adequate  funds  ;  the  point  of 
location  had  been  duly  settled,  and  every  thing  seemed  to  promise  a  speedy 
consummation  of  the  plans  and  expectations  of  the  parties.  Having  thus  suc- 
ceeded, as  we  supposed,  in  making  provision  for  the  continued  supply  of  the 
Carolinas  with  an  approved  Weekly  Journal,  we  considered  our  responsibilities 
at  an  end,  and  our  editorial  labors  as,  probably,  finished  for  ever.  Owing  to 
circumstances,  however,  over  which  we  bad  no  control,  our  brethren  of  South 
Carolina  failed  in  their  attempts  to  organize  a  company,  as  contemplated;  and, 
in  consequence,  we  were  disappointed  in  the  sale  of  our  property,  and  the  two 
States  left  destitute  of  any  provision  for  meeting  their  existing  and  future  de- 
mands. 

Finding  ourselves  still  in  possession  of  our  old  lists — seeing  this  State  without 
any  reasonable  prospect  of  supplying  itself  with  a  publication — having  assurance 
of  the  support  of  a  portion  of  our  old  subscribers — and  believing  that,  with  the 
facilities  still  in  hand,  a  periodical  might  be  so  contrived  as  to  secure  an  adequate 
share  of  support,  we  forthwith  set  ourselves  to  work  to  meet  the  demands  and 
exigencies  of  the  occasion.  Of  our  cogitations  on  the  point,  the  present  work  is 
the  result. 

We  have  said  that  the  present  publication  is  designed,  in  part,  to  supply  the 
place  of  the  Recorder  and  Watchman.  We  mean  until  something  more 
acceptable  shall  be  introduced.  We  shall,  accordingly,  give  to  it  something  of 
the  cast  usually  adapted  to  weekly  journals,  and  shall  supply  its  pages  with 
ample  summaries  of  the  latest  intelligence.  But  as  we  design  the  Repository 
to  possess  some  of  the  stateliness  of  a  Review,  we  shall  procure  for  its  pages  the 
best  articles,  both  original  and  selected,  that  our  resources  will  enable  us  to 
command.  In  a  word,  it  is  our  purpose  to  unite,  in  the  present  publication,  as 
far  as  practicable,  the  qualities  of  a  weekly  journal,  with  those  properly  belonging 
to  a  respectable  quarterly. 

Wc  are  aware  of  but  one  particular,  of  any  moment,  in  which  the  advantages 
of  a  monthly  journal  are  not  fully  equal  to  those  of  a  weekly — and  that  is,  it 
does  not  come  out  so  often.     This,  it  will  be  conceded,  is  a  matter  of  real  con- 

1 


2  To  the  Reader. 

sequence.  But,  in  a  religious  paper,  even  this  disadvantage  is  apt  to  be- over- 
rated; as  it  rarely  happens  that  intelligence  comes  to  hand,  which  loses  much 
of  either  its  interest  or  its  importance  by  being  withheld  some  one,  or  two,  or 
three,  weeks.  In  most  other  respects,  a  monthly  has  decided  advantages  over 
a  common  weekly  newspaper.  Its  matter  is,  or  ought  to  be,  more  select.  It 
is  much  more  convenient  for  use.  It  is  more  easily,  and  will  be  more  certainly, 
preserved.  It  will  be  as  valuable  at  the  end  of  five,  or  ten,  or  twenty  years,  as 
on  the  day  of  its  publication.  And,  although  last,  by  no  means  least,  it  can  be 
sustained  where  a  weekly  paper  cannot  live.  These  advantages  are  all  real, 
and  some  of  them  are  weighty — none  of  them  ought  to  be  overlooked  by  our 
readers. 

We  have  a  word  to  say  respecting  our  terms.  Contrasted  with  the  usual 
price  of  Northern  publications,  to  some  they  may  probably  seem  high.  With- 
out pretending  to  account  for  the  fact,  that  some  publicaiions  are  offered  so  low, 
we  will  simply  state,  that  the  present  periodical,  with  its  superior  mechanical 
execution,  and  its  probable  list  of  subscribers,  could  not  be  undertaken  at  a  lower 
rate.  We  estimated  for  a  list  of  500  subscribers.  Should  this  number  be  ma- 
terially exceeded,  however — a  circumstance  which  we  now  think  not  improb- 
able— we  shall  have  it  in  our  power  to  make  proportional  additions  to  the  number 
of  our  pages.  That  every  one  may  be  able  to  judge  lor  himself  in  this  matter, 
it  will  be  sufficient  to  state,  that  our  present  contract  with  the  printer  exceeds  a 
thousand  dollars  per  annum.  After  making  due  allowance  for  postage,  com- 
missions, clerk's  hire,  and  such  losses  as  never  fail  to  attend  such  operations,  it 
is  questionable  if  we  shall  have  any  thing  left,  unless  our  subscription  list  shall 
be  made  to  exceed  the  number  estimated.  It  is  on  such  excess  that  we  rely 
for  our  own  compensation. 

With  regard  to  the  ability  with  which  the  present  paper  will  be  conducted, 
wo  have  only  to  say,  that  we  have  obtained  the  promised  aid  of  some  of  the  best 
writers  in  this  State,  and  in  South  Carolina,  and  hope  for  similar  assistance  from 
each  of  the  other  Southern  States.  Under  such  circumstances,  and  with  such 
a  measure  of  patronage  as  we  ought  to  anticipate,  we  see  no  reason  why  our 
friends  may  not  expect  a  paper  in  every  respect  worthy  of  their  confidence  and 
their  support. 

For  further  particulars  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  last  page  of  the  cover. 

P.  S. — Should  it  occur  to  any  to  enquire,  why  it  is,  that,  out  of  a  list  of 
two  thousand  subscribers,  we  can  now  reckon,  with  confidence,  on  not  more 
than  five  hundred — the  answer  is  this  :  Our  brethren  in  South  Carolina  are 
endeavoring  to  get  up  a  weekly  paper  for  themselves — we  can,  therefore,  make 
but  little  calculation  on  them.  Many  of  our  old  subscribers  are  still  in  arrears — 
to  them  it  would  be  useless  to  send  our  present  paper.  Besides  this,  the  hard- 
ness of  the  times,  our  requirement  of  advanced  pay,  and  the  unavoidable  rise  in 
our  terms,  will  probably  cause  others  to  decline.  These  considerations  have 
caused  us  to  entertain  very  moderate  expectations,  with  regard  to  the  immediate 
patronage  of  the  present  publication.  Still,  however,  if  our  friends  will  do  us 
and  the  cause  the  favor  to  exert  themselves  a  little,  we  can  see  no  reason  why 
the  paper,  as  now  arranged,  may  not  have  a  highly  respectable  circulation. 


ILscegetical  Theology.  3 

INAUGURAL   DISCOURSE, 

Delivered  before  the  Board  of  Trustees   of  the  Furman 
Institution,  at  their  Annual  Meeting,  Dec.  11,  1S41. 

The  discourse,  of  which  the  foregoing  is  the  title,  was  delivered  before  the 
South  Carolina  Baptist  State  Convention,  at  their  last  Annual  Session,  at  So- 
ciety Hill.  After  a  neat  and  appropriate  introduction,  the  speaker  divided  his 
subject  into  four  departments,  namely,  exegetical,  systematic,  historical,  and 
practical  theology — on  each  of  which  he  dilated  with  his  usual  terseness  and 
point.  It  would  afford  us  pleasure  to  copy  the  whole  discourse,  did  our  limits 
admit.  As  the  case  is,  however,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  the  remarks 
of  the  author  on  his  first  head. 

We  cannot  be  otherwise  than  gratified  with  every  attempt  we  see  made,  to 
impress  on  our  rising  ministry  the  importance  of  an  acquaintance  with  the  origi- 
nal Scriptures.  It  is  no  part  of  our  intention  to  insinuate  that  a  man  may  not 
acquire  a  general  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  or  that  he  may  not  become  ex- 
tensively useful  as  a  minister  of  religion,  without  a  knowledge, of  the  dead  lan- 
guages. Numberless  cases  may  be  adduced  as  evidence  to  prove  exactly  the 
reverse  of  this.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  no  man's  acquaintance  with  the 
inspired  record  can  become  so  accurate  or  so  certain,  by  reading  a  translation, 
as  it  might  become  by  inspecting  the  very  terms  which  the  pen  of  inspiration  has 
employed  ;  nor  can  any  one  be  so  confident  that  he  has  obtained  the  sense  of 
an  inspired  writer,  by  using  a  translation,  as  he  can  by  referring  directly,  and 
for  himself,  to  the  original  document. 

A  single  remark  will  render  this  obvious.  A  translation  is  nothing  more  than 
the  translator's  views  of  the  matter  translated.  For  example,  if  a  person  would 
translate  a  given  passage  of  the  New  Testament,  he  must  first  proceed  to  con- 
strue it,  that  is,  to  put  his  own  meaning  upon  it.  His  next  step  will  be  to  put 
that  meaning  into  English,  or  into  the  language  into  which  the  version  is  to  be 
made.  The  consequence  is,  a  translation,  at  best,  can  be  nothing  more  than  a 
transcript  of  the  original,  as  it  appears  to  the  mind  of  the  translator.  Of  course, 
if  the  original  should  happen  to  be  misapprehended  by  the  translator,  or  if  the 
latter  should  fail  to  get  a  clear  and  exact  perception  of  his  author's  meaning,  all 
such  misapprehension,  or  obscurity,  or  obliquity  g(  version,  would  necessarily 
go  into  the  translation.  From  this  it  must  be  seen  that  a  translation,  however 
excellent,  can  be  but  a  human  production,  and,  to  a  critical  and  independent 
enquirer  after  truth,  must  furnish  a  subject  of  inspection  very  different  from  that 
furnished  by  the  original  record.  In  the  latter  case,  the  student  reads  the  scrip- 
tures with  his  own  eyes — in  the  former,  he  reads  them  with  the  eyes  of  another. 
In  both  cases  they  may  indeed  be  read  with  equal  correctness  ;  but  every  one 
must  see  that  they  cannot  be  read  in  both  cases  with  the  same  satisfaction  and 
the  same  confidence. 

Nor  is  there  any  good  reason  why  our  ministers  generally  should  be  denied 
the  important  privilege  of  reading  the  original  Scriptures  lor  themselves.  A 
man  of  ordinary  talents,  of  good  English  education,  of  industrious  and  persever- 
ing habits,  and  not  too  far  advanced  in  life,  might  soon  qualify  himself  to  read 
the  Scriptures  in  the  very  words  used  by  prophets  and  apostles.     And  though 


Exegetical  Theology. 


he  might  never  become  a  profound  scholar,  he  might  become  qualified  to  exa- 
mine an  original  text,  and  to  judge  of  the  accuracy  of  a  translation,  with  a  very 
considerable  measure  of  success.  It  is  well  known  that  some  of  our  best  scholars 
are  self-made  men  ;  and  some  of  our  ministers,  who  have  been  distinguished  for 
their  literary  attainments,  wrought  as  mechanics,  until  thirty  years  of  age.  We 
have  now  particularly  in  view  an  old  brother,  not  long  since  dead,  who  lived 
and  labored  in  the  eastern  part  of  this  State,  who,  even  in  bis  old  age,  resorted 
to  the  study  of  the  original  Scriptures,  and  long  before  bis  death,  became  a  very 
tolerable  Greek  scholar. 

We  have  frequently  recommended  this  branch  of  study  to  the  younger  classes 
of  our  ministers,  with  the  full  assurance  that,  if  they  could  be  induced  to  make 
the  attempt,  our  most  sanguine  expectations  would  be  more  than  realized.  And 
we  now  insert  the  observations  of  Professor  Reynolds,  not  by  way  of  discourage- 
ment or  disparagement  to  any,  but  as  an  occasion  of  incitement  to  our  younger 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  who  have,  or  who  can  command,  the  time,  if  it  be 
only  an  hour  each  day,  to  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  language  in 
which  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  taught  the  way  of  life.  Let  none  forget  that 
important  practical  lesson  of  the  New  Testament — "  To  him  who  scrupulously 
improves  what  he  has,  more  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance." 

"Exegetical  Theology  embraces  all  those  branches  of 
knowledge  which  are  requisite  for  the  correct  interpretation 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures.  These  constitute  the  basis  of  sacred 
science  ;  and,  hence,  all  correct  theology  must  begin  with  the 
study  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  To  interpret  them, 
several  helps  are  necessary.  The  interpreter  must  possess  a 
philological  acquaintance  with  the  original  languages^— the 
Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  Hellenistic  Greek  of 
the  New.  For  some  portions  of  the  Old  Testament,  Chaldee 
is  necessary;  and,  if  the  theologian  would  obtain  a  deeper 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew,  he  must  push  his  researches  into 
the  kindred  languages  of  the  Semitish  family,  Syriac  and 
Arabic.  It  is  now  generally  conceded  that  the  Greek  of  the 
New  Testament  is  not  classical.  In  grammatical  structure, 
the  forms,  inflections,  and  signification  of  words,  it  indicates 
the  influence  of  circumstances  to  which  the  language  of  clas- 
sic literature  had  never  been  subjected.  It  is  the  language  of 
one  country,  degenerate  by  time,  and  spoken  by  the  people 
of  another;  the  later  Greek  idiom,  modified  by  Hebrew  form 
of  thought  and  expression,  and  applied  to  Christian  topics. — 
Hence,  a  knowledge  of  classic  Greek  does  not,  of  itself,  enable 
us  to  interpret  the  New  Testament.  The  interpreter  must 
walk  by  the  light  of  the  oriental  languages.  It  is  the  star  in 
the  East  that  leads  to  the  manger  of  Bethlehem. 

I  would  not  seem  to  over-rate  the  importance  of  the  Hebrew 
language  to  an   interpreter  of  the  Scriptures,  surrounded  as  I 


Exegetical  Theology;  5 

am  by  beloved  brethren  and  fathers,  who,  without  an  ac- 
quaintance with  it  have  arrived  at  clear  conceptions  of  divine 
truth,  and  are  lights  to  their  generation.  But,  I  think  that 
those  of  you,  who  have  examined  with  care  the  writings  of 
the  New  Testament,  have  been  inpressed  with  the  fact,  that 
much  of  the  aid  and  the  satisfaction  which  3^011  have  experi- 
enced, has  been  derived  from  those  critics,  who  have  brought 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  New  Testament,  a  familiar  ac- 
quaintance with  the  language  of  the  Old.  On  this  subject, 
there  is,  I  believe,  but  one  opinion  among  modern  biblical 
scholars. 

'  So  numerous  are  the  references,  direct  and  indirect,  in 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament  to  those  of  the  Old,  that  an 
accurate  acquaintance  with  the  latter,  in  their  original  lan- 
guage, is  necessary.'  Schleiermacher's  Kurze  Darstellung 
des  Theol.  Stud.  §  128. 

'The  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  language  is  indispensable 
to  the  theologian.'     Hagenbach's  Encyclopadie,  §  40. 

Prof.  Robinson  considers  'a  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  es- 
sential to  an  accurate  comprehension  of  the  philology  of  the 
New  Testament,'  and  'one  of  the  means  of  acquiring  a  fa- 
miliarity with  the  genius  and  character  of  the  Jewish  people, 
and  of  becoming  endued  with  an  oriental  spirit,  without  which, 
it  is  apparent  that  the  New  Testament  cannot  be  fully  under- 
stood.'    4  Biblical  Repository,  p.  176. 

Dr.  Campbell  remarks,  that '  to  understand  perfectly  the 
language  of  the  New  Testament,  the  knowledge  of  Hebrew 
is  almost  as  necessary  as  that  of  Greek.'  Lectures  on  Sys- 
tematic Theology.     Lee.  3,  p.  103.     Note. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  dwell  on  the  importance  of  study- 
ing the  original  languages  of  the  Bible.  But,  there  is  one 
consideration,  which  addresses  itself  so  urgently  to  us  as  a 
denomination,  that  I  cannot  pass  it  by.  I  allude  to  the  fact 
that,  in  our  English  version,  the  word  which  refers  to  the  or- 
dinance of  baptism  has  been  left  untranslated;  and,  therefore, 
to  ascertain  its  import,  we  must  recur  to  original  sources. — 
Profound  and  extensive  investigation  into  the  meaning  of  the 
untranslated  word,  has  always  resulted  in  the  spread  of  the 
truth.  Is  it  not  amazing  that  any  among  us  should  be  opposed 
to  human  learning?  What  do  we  not  owe  to  the  toils  of 
scholarship?  Consult  your  standard  Greek  lexicographers, 
and  they  speak  with  remarkable  unanimity  in  our  favor. — 
Concentrate  upon  this  subject  the  rays  of  Hebrew  philology, 
and  (he  correctness  of  our  position  appears  in  the  light  of  noon- 


6  Exegetical  Theology. 

day.  Polemics  may  quibble.  They  do  after  their  kind. — 
We  turn  from  them  to  the  great  lights  of  philological  learn- 
ing, and  '  rejoice  for  the  consolation.' 

The  position  which  our  denomination  has  recently  taken 
with  respect  to  the  heathen  world,  demands  a  thorough  inves- 
tigation of  the  original  languages  of  the  Bible.  We  have 
abandoned  our  long-cherished  connexion  with  the  American 
Bible  Society,  because  in  giving  the  word  of  life  to  the  hea- 
then, we  felt  bound  to  make  the  original  Scriptures,  and  not 
the  English  version,  the  standard  of  translation.  Hence,  it 
is  incumbent  on  us  to  furnish  missionaries  competent  to  the 
work  of  translation.  In  other  respects,  also,  the  original  lan- 
guages of  the  Bible  stand  in  intimate  relation  to  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. The  Hebrew,  as  has  already  been  stated,  is  only  one 
of  a  sisterhood  which  composes  the  Semitish  class  of  languages. 
This  class  extends,  far  and  wide,  through  countries  over 
which  now  hang  the  shades  of  moral  night.  The  Arabic  is 
the  ecclesiastical  language  of  Persia,  the  Turkish  empire,  and 
all  the  countries  under  the  dominion  of  the  Arabian  impostor; 
and,  with  some  inconsiderable  modifications,  is  spoken  all 
over  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  Egypt,  in  Northern  Africa,  and 
along  the  coasts  of  Coromandel  and  Malabar.  Syriac  is  the 
language  of  religion  and  books  among  the  Jacobites,  Nesto- 
rians,  and  Maronitcs,  whose  dwellings  are  on  the  Syrian 
mountains,  in  portions  of  Mesopotamia,  Koordistan,  and  the 
Paschalic  of  Bagdad.  The  Amharic  and  Tigre,  dialects  of 
the  Ethiopic,  which  is  also  of  Semitish  origin,  give  the  mis- 
sionary access  to  Abyssinia,  and  other  parts  of  Africa;  and 
the  Romaic,  or  modern  Greek,  opens  his  way  to  the  land  of 
classic  recollections,  to  Thessaly,  the  islands  of  the  Archipel- 
ago, Cyprus,  and  other  inviting  fields.  These  lands  have 
been  given  to  the  Redeemer  for  an  inheritance.  The  cres- 
cent will  yet  wane  before  the  splendor  of  the  cross.  The 
East  will  pour  her  riches  into  the  treasury  of  the  Church; 
Edom  will  look,  with  joy  and  hope,  upon  the  'dyed  gar- 
ments' of  the  Son  of  God;  '  the  Egyptians  shall  know  the 
Lord  ;'  'Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God;'  and 
c  the  outcasts  of  Israel,'  our  elder  brethren  in  the  covenant  of 
God,  once  dear  to  Him  as  the  apple  of  his  eye,  and  still  '  be- 
loved for  the  fathers'  sakes,'  will/cbuild  their  desolate  sanc- 
tuary, and,  on  the  sacred  soil  to  which  they  yet  fondly  cling, 
as  well  as  in  every  land  to  which  they  may  have  wandered, 
will  'sing  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb.' 

May  we  not  hope  thai  this  school  of  the  Prophets  will  be  a 


Exegeiical  Theology.  7 

nursery  of  Missionaries,  that  from  this  quiet  retreat  may  go 
forth  men  of  warm  hearts  and  cultivated  minds,  who  will  lift 
up  the  cross  of  the  Redeemer  among  the  dying  Heathen,  and 
claim  for  him  his  destined  possession.  Sure  I  am,  that  if  any 
thing  could  add  to  the  celestial  joy  of  him  whose  honored 
name  it  bears,  or  draw  him,  for  a  moment,  from  the  bliss  of 
the  beatific  vision,  it  would  be  to  see  the  light,  which  he 
labored  to  kindle  here,  casting  its  gladdening  rays  upon  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth. 

To  the  department  of  exegetical  theology,  belong  also  the 
examination  of  the  sacred  text ;  proofs  of  the  authenticity  and 
integrity  of  the  canonical  books;  their  origin,  age,  contents, 
and  character;  the  history  of  manuscripts,  editions,  transla- 
tions, &c.  Here  belongs,  also,  the  science  of  hermeneutics, 
or  the  laws  of  interpretation.  A  rational  system  of  interpre- 
tation among  us  would  put  to  flight  the  whole  army  of  allego- 
rizers  and  spiritualizers,  convert  their  types  and  shadows  into 
substance,  lay  an  interdict  upon  their  double  and  triple  senses, 
and  put  to  rest  the  wasteful  ingenuity  of  those  prolific  exposi- 
tors who  seek  to  bring  forth  from  the  word  of  God  meanings, 
'  some  thirty,  some  sixty,  and  some  an  hundred  fold.'  This 
division  also  includes  biblical  antiquities,  ecclesiastical,  politi- 
cal and  domestic,  biblical  geography  and  chronology.  The 
object  of  these  latter  studies  is  to  place  the  interpreter,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  in  the  situation  of  those  to  whom  the  Scrip- 
tures were  originally  addressed;  and,  be  who  should  attempt 
to  interpret  them,  without  a  knowledge  of  biblical  antiquities, 
would  succeed  as  well  as  one  who,  whilst  ignorant  of  the  cus- 
toms of  Greece  and  Rome,  should  undertake  to  explain  the 
epistles  of  Horace,  or  the  orations  of  Demosthenes.  It  is  well 
known  that,  in  translating  from  one  language  to  another,,  a  lite- 
ral rendering  would  frequently  make  nonsense.  Who  would 
infer  from  a  literal  translation,  that  ad  ovum  means  '  until 
supper-time  ?'  Without  a  reference  to  the  fact,  that  the  an- 
cients measured  time  by  the  clepsydra,  or  water-clock,  who 
would  suppose  that  perdere  aquam  means 'to  lose  time,' 
and/;ms  udor  cipein  means  to  conclude  a  speech  within  the 
time  allotted  for  its  delivery?  Without  the  knowledge  to 
which  I  have  referred,  the  meaning  of  those  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture which  speak  of  putting  new  wine  into  old  bottles,  water- 
ing the  ground  with  the  foot,  the  early  and  latter  rain,  &c. 
&c.  would  be  unintelligible,  and  the  beautiful  allusions  of  St 
Paul  to  the  Grecian  games  would  lose  all  their  significance." 


8  JL  Christian  Church. 

NO.  I. 

A  CPIRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

What  it  is. 

The  original  Greek  term  corresponding  to  the  word  church, 
is  composed  of  two  expressions,  which,  when  taken  together, 
signify  from  or  out  of;  and,  in  its  primary  and  obvious  im- 
j)ort,  denotes  an  assembly  of  people,  called  together  under 
any  circumstances,  and  for  any  purpose.  Thus,  for  example, 
the  disorderly  tumult  at  Ephesus,  occasioned  by  the  misre- 
presentations of  Demetrius,  the  silver-smith,  and  the  lawful 
and  regular  assembly,  recommended  by  the  town  clerk,  are 
both  expressed  by  the  original  term,  ecclesia,  church. 

This  term  is  most  commonly  used,  however,  when  em- 
ployed in  the  New  Testament,  to  denote  a  body  or  associa- 
tion of  christian  disciples;  and  is  applied  both  to  the  whole 
mystical  body  of  Christ,  that  is,  the  Christian  church  gene- 
ral, and  to  individual  branches  or  companies  of  worshippers. 
Thus,  for  example,  Christ  said,  "Upon  this  rock  will  I  build 
my  ecclesia,  my  church,"  meaning  his  empire  on  earth;  and, 
in  like  manner,  the  company  of  disciples  residing  at  Jerusa- 
lem, is  called  "the  ecclesia,  the  church,  which  is  at  Jerusa- 
lem." It  is  in  this  last  mentioned  sense,  mainly,  that  I  shall 
use  the  word  in  the  present  and  succeeding  numbers. 

By  the  term  church,  then,  is  to  be  understood  a  company 
or  congregation  of  worshippers,  regularly  organized  on  gos- 
pel principles,  and  voluntarily  associated  for  religious  pur- 
poses. Such  were  the  seven  churches  of  Asia  ;  such  was  the 
church  at  Antioch  ;  such  was  the  church  that  worshipped  in 
the  house  of  Philemon  ;  and  such,  in  a  word,  were  all  the 
churches  of  the  apostolic  age. 

Who  co?npose  it. 

That  the  primitive  churches  were  composed  of  professed 
believers  only,  is  obvious,  in  my  view,  from  the  following 
considerations. 

First.  There  is  no  provision  made  in  the  gospel  for  the 
admission  of  any  but  such  to  membership.  It  is  said  in  the 
apostolic  commission,  "lie  that  believelh  and  is  baptized  shall 
be  saved  ;"  but  it  is  no  where  intimated  that  any  but  such  as 
believe,  or,  at  least,  such  as  make  a  plausible  profession  of 
faith,  have  any  claim  to  a  place  among  the  disciples. 

In  the  second  place,  none  but  such  are  recognised  as  mem- 
bers in  the  apostolic  epistles  addressed  to  the  churches.  These 


d  Christian  Church,  9 

documents  make  constant  allusion  to  the  saints — to  those  that 
are  holy — but  in  no  case  to  infants,  nor  to  any  except  such  as 
have  made  a  profession  of  holiness  of  heart  and  of  practice. 

In  the  third  place,  none  but  such  can  be  esteemed  fit  for  the 
relation  of  church  members.  Those  who  are  not  confessedly 
holy,  are  obviously  unqualified  for  a  place  in  the  household 
of  faith;  and  infants,  who  are  incapable  of  voluntary  action, 
must  be  equally  unsuited  to  become  parties  to  a  compact,  in 
which  every  thing  depends  on  the  free  and  voluntary  action 
of  its  constituents. 

Finally,  in  the  formation  and  history  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament churches,  we  have  express  mention  of  "men  and  wo- 
men," who  believed  and  were  baptized  ;  but  not  the  remotest 
allusion  to  infants,  nor  to  any  who  had  not  made  a  credible 
profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ. 

To  show  the  force  of  this  reasoning,  so  far,  at  least,  as  in- 
fants are  concerned,  it  may  be  observed,  that  they,  infants, 
were  admitted  as  parties  to  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham, 
and  were  incorporated  into  the  religio-politico  institutions  of 
the  Jewish  commonweallh.  Accordingly,  the  fact  is  repeat- 
edly and  expressly  mentioned  as  a  matter  of  history — the 
mode  of  initiation  is  described  with  much  particularity — and 
the  circumstance  is  alluded  to  on  so  many  occasions,  and  in 
so  great  a  variety  of  forms,  that  a  doubt  has  never  existed  on 
the  subject.  Instead  of  any  thing  like  this,  however,  touch- 
ing the  point  under  discussion,  as  has  been  remarked,  the 
subject  of  infant  church  membership  has  never  been  so  much 
as  hinted  at.  The  contrast  is  remarkable;  and  the  silence  in 
the  latter  case,  and  especially  when  viewed  in  connexion  with 
the  evidence  in  the  former,  furnishes  conclusive  proof,  in  my 
view,  that  infants  were  never  known  as  members  in  the  pri- 
mitive churches. 

Its  visibility. 

For  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  it  may  he  proper  to  remark 
here,  that  the  distinction  usually  made  between  what  is  called 
the  visible  and  the  invisible  churches,  is  without  any  foun- 
dation in  truth.  That  no  such  distinction  has  been  made  in 
the  Scriptures,  must  be  known  to  every  one  familiar  with  the 
sacred  volume.  That  the  aforesaid  distinction  is  therefore 
altogether  of  human  origin,  and  has  been  adopted  for  the  sake 
of-  convenience  in  the  management  of  theological  disquisi- 
tions, is  not  less  obvious.  Nor  can  it  he  much  less  certain 
that  this,  like  most  other  technicalities  of  the  same  kind,  has 


10  A  Christum  Church. 

tended  rather  to  confuse  and  perplex  what  was  already  plain, 
than  to  throw  light  on  any  portion  of  the  inspired  volume. 
So  far  as  I  can  see,  Christ  has  one  mystical  body,  one  church 
general  on  earth,  and  that  is  a  visible  church — consisting  of 
all  such  as  are  visibly  connected  with  him,  by  a  constitutional 
compliance  with  his  visible  and  actual  institutions.  But  that 
there  is  another  church,  separate  and  distinct  from  this,  which 
is  exclusively  spiritual,  and,  in  any  sense  of  the  expression, 
an  invisible  church,  is  certainly  not  attested  by  the  Scrip- 
tures; nor  is  there,  so  far  as  I  can  see;  the  remotest  allusion 
to  such  institution  in  the  whole  compass  of  the  sacred  record. 
When  I  speak  of  the  church  general,  then  I  wish  to  be  under- 
stood as  meaning  invariably  the  one  visible  body  or  kingdom 
of  Christ  on  earth,  in  which  are  found  all  his  real,  actual,  and 
visible  institutions  ;  and  when  I  speak  of  the  particular  or  in- 
dividual church.es,  I  mean  those  separate  and  independent 
communities,  which,  when  taken  together,  constitute  the  one- 
general,  consolidated,  universal  church. 

Baptism  indispen sable. 

From  the  foregoing  view  of  the  case,  it  follows,  that  bap- 
tism is  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  church  membership,. 
As  none  can  be  entitled  to  fellowship  but  such  as  have  made 
a  constitutional  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ,  and  as  bap- 
tism is  the  only  authorized  act  by  which  such  profession  can 
be  made,  it  must  follow,  of  course,  that  baptism  must  precede, 
in  the  order  of  time,  all  proper  claims  to  church  relationship. 
Therefore  none  can  become  constitutional]}1  members  of  the 
christian  church,  except  such  as  shall  have  first  submitted  to 
the  rite  of  baptism. 

It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  this  last  remark  can 
apply  only  to  particular  or  individual  churches,  in  contradis- 
tinction from  the  mystical  body  of  Christ.  The  case  is  this  ; 
By  the  act  of  baptism  the  disciple  becomes,  de  facto,  a  mem- 
ber of  Christ's  body,  or  of  the  church  general.  By  the  same 
act  he  makes  that  profession  by  which  he  becomes  qualified, 
other  things  being  equal,  for  particular  church  membership. 
This  last  object  he  attains  by  a  special  compact  entered  into- 
between  himself  and  the  parties  composing  any  given  indivi- 
dual church. 

From  this  last  view  of  the  case  it  will  be  evident,  that  a 
person  may  he  a  member  of  the  church  general,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  may  not  be  a  member  of  any  individual  church  in 
particular.     It   is  true,  he  who  has   a  proper  connexion  with 


A  Christian  Church.  il 

the  latter,  must  of  course  be  a  member  of  the  former.  But 
it  does  not  follow,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  who  belongs  to 
the  former,  must  of  necessity  belong  to  the  latter.  lie  who 
has  been  validly  baptized,  unavoidably  belongs  to  the  church 
general,  though  he  may  never  be  associated  with  any  parti- 
cular body  or  community  of  Christians.  And,  on  the  same 
principle,  though  excluded  from  a  particular  church,  a  person 
may  still  be  a  member  of  the  church  general. 

Hgiv  constituted. 

That  the  primitive  churches  were  regularly  organized  com- 
munities, voluntarily  instituted  for  religious  purposes,  and 
held  together  by  certain  fundamental  laws,  constituting  the 
basis  of  the  compact,  will  be  questioned  by  no  one  acquainted 
with  their  history.  The  process  observed  in  forming  such 
organizations  is  not  laid  down  in  the  New  Testament,  and  is 
therefore  thought  to  be  immaterial.  For  the  sakeof  convenience 
and  utility,  some  form  is  found  to  be  necessary,  however,  and 
by  those  of  our  own  faith,  the  following  is  generally  adopted: 
First  of  all,  a  Constitution,  otherwise  called  a  Covenant,  is 
drawn  up,  containing  an  outline  of  the  religious  belief  of  the 
parties,  together  with  the  fundamental  principles  on  which 
the  union  is  formed,  and  by  which  the  parties  engage  to  be 
governed.  To  this  instrument  the  parties  contracting  give 
their  solemn  and  unanimous  consent,  either  personally  or  by 
their  representatives,  before  the  congregation  ;  in  addition  to 
which  it  is  sometimes  thought  proper  for  each  member  to  af- 
fix his  own  proper  signature  to  the  instrument — the  whole 
thus  mutually  and  solemnly  pledging  themselves  to  the  Lord 
and  to  one  another. 

The  foregoing  proceeding  is  general^,  though,  I  presume, 
not  necessarily,  attended  by  two  or  more  ministers,  invited  to 
officiate  on  the  occasion.  Without  the  ministry  the  aforesaid 
formality  would  fail  of  much  of  its  interest,  and  an  occasion 
peculiarly  favorable  to  good  impressions,  would  be  measur- 
ably lost.  Besides  this,  the  known  sanction  of  the  officiating 
presbytery,  and  their  concurring  testimony  afterwards,  has  a 
happy  effect  in  commending  the  newly  constituted  to  the  fa- 
vor and  confidence  of  sister  churches.  Thus  it  would  seem 
that  the  constitution  of  our  churches  is  effected,  in  fact,  by 
the  voluntary  and  unanimous  action  of  the  contracting  parties, 
and  the  presence  of  the  presbytery  is  required  only  as  a  mea- 
sure of  expediency  and  of  gospel  decorum. 


12  The  Fixed  Stars. 

From  the  foregoing  facts  result  two  corollaries,  which  in- 
volve no  little  practical  importance. 

The  first  is,  that  no  member  can  be  constitutionally  admit- 
ted at  any  subsequent  period,  without  a  unanimous  vote  of 
the  church.  As  has  been  seen,  a  fundamental  principle  of  the 
compact  is  that  of  mutual  and  reciprocal  union.  Every  indi- 
vidual enters  the  compact  with  his  own  consent,  and  with  that 
of  every  other  member.  This  principle  must  continue  as 
long  as  the  compact  endures.  And  accordingly,  so  long  as 
the  principle  continues,  unanimous  and  reciprocal  action  must 
be  indispensable  to  the  admission  of  members.  Under  such 
circumstances  the  receiving  of  a  member  without  a  unanim- 
ous vote,  would  be  a  violation  of  a  fundamental  principle  of 
the  compact,  and  a  virtual  demolition  of  the  whole  structure. 

The.  second  inference  is,  that  a  church  cannot  be  constitu- 
tionally dissolved  without  the  consent  of  all  the  members. 
In  most  cases,  if  not  in  all,  whether  in  religion  or  in  politics, 
the  same  power  is  necessary  to  uncreate,  that  is  required  to 
create — the  same  to  dissolve,  that  is  necessary  to  constitute. 
On  this  principle,  which  I  think  will  not  be  disputed  in  this 
case  at  least,  it  will  be  seen,  that,  as  a  unanimous  act  is  ne- 
cessary to  form  the  compact,  so  a  unanimous  aci  is  indispen- 
sable to  disannul  it. 

Editor, 


THE  FIXED  STARS. 

No  science  hitherto  known,  fills  the  mind  with  such  lofty  conceptions  of  Di- 
vine power,  as  that  relating'  to  tbe  sidereal  heavens  ;  and  yet,  perhaps,  consider- 
ing its  interest,  no  science  is  so  generally  neglected,  or,  by  the  common  reader, 
so  little  understood. 

From  the  earliest  times  the  mechanism  of  the  heavens,  and  particularly  the 
magnitude  and  distances  of  the  stars,  together  with  their  motions  and  relative 
positions,  have  attracted  the  attention  of  astronomers.  And  it  is  wonderful  to 
observe  how  science  has  corrected  the  errors,  and  improved  the  knowledge  of 
mankind,  on  this  subject,  in  different  and  succeeding  ages  of  tbe  world.  Prior 
to  tbe  time  of  Copernicus,  it  was  the  universal  opinion  of  mankind,  that  the 
earth  was  tbe  centre  of  tbe  system,  and  that  the  sun,  tbe  moon,  and  the  stars 
revolved  round  it  : — also,  that  the  earth  was  by  far  the  largest  and  most  material 
portion  of  tbe  universe — that  tbe  sun  and  moon  were  objects  next  in  size — and 
that  tbe  stars  were  nothing  more  than  luminaries  of  inconsiderable  magnitude, 
and  situated  at  trifling  distances  from  the  centre  and  from  each  other. 

The  discoveries  of  Copernicus,  however,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  occasioned 
new  and  vastly  enlarged  conceptions  of  tbe  magnitude  of  the  visible  heavens. 
Agreeably  to  lis  theory,  which  ia  now  universally  received,  the  earth  revolves 


The  Fixed  Stars.  13 

on  its  axis,  and  thereby  causes  the  apparent  diurnal  motions  of  the  heavenly- 
bodies.  Besides  this,  the  earth  and  the  other  planets  and  satellites  have  an  an- 
nual motion  round  the  sun — and  the  stars,  instead  of  being  bodies  of  diminutive 
size,  and  designed  only  as  ornaments  to  the  sky,  are  in  reality  suns,  the  centres 
of  systems  like  our  own,  and  situated  at  distances  inconceivably  remote  from  us 
and  from  one  another. 

Prior  to  the  invention  of  the  telescope,  however,  nothing  was  known  of  the 
heavens  but  what  could  be  discerned  by  the  naked  eye,  Some  two  or  three 
thousand  stars,  together  with  some  of  the  largest  planets  belonging  to  the  solar 
system,  were  all  of  which  mankind  had  any  knowledge.  The  invention  of  the 
telescope  introduced  a  new  era  in  the  science  of  astronomy,  and  gave  a  fresh 
impulse  to  the  study  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  By  the  application  of  the  powers 
of  this  instrument,  the  astronomer  has  been  enabled  to  see  into  space  nearly  two 
hundred  times  further  than  before  ;  that  is,  the  telescope  enables  the  observer 
to  detect  and  examine  stars,  placed  at  a  distance  from  the  earth  nearly  two  hun- 
dred times  more  remote  than  the  most  distant  star  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  The 
consequence  has  been,  that,  instead  of  disclosing  some  three  thousand  stars,  as 
was  at  first  supposed,  the  heavens  have  been  found  to  reveal  innumerable  mil- 
lions of  bodies  of  different  magnitudes,  colors,  combinations,  and  distances — 
unfolding  a  field  of  infinite  interest  to  the  scientific  enquirer,  and  affording  a 
corresponding  expansion  to  our  conceptions  of  tlie  created  universe. 

And  yet  even  here  we  find  no  limit,  either  to  the  field  of  human  discovery,  or 
to  the  creations  of  infinite  wisdom  and  might.  For  any  thing  known  as  yet, 
mankind  may  have  but  just  begun  to  explore  the  wonders  of  infinite  space.  For 
any  thing  at  present  known,  instruments  may  yet  be  invented,  exceeding  the 
powers  of  the  telescope,  far  as  that  instrument  exceeds  the  powers  of  the  human 
eye  ;  and  revolving  wonders  in  the  planetary  and  siderial  systems,  transcending 
what  is  now  known,  iar  as  the  latter  transcends  the  speculations  of  the  ancient 
astrologers.  Who  can  fix  a  limit  to  the  powers  of  human  invention  and  disco- 
very? Still  more,  who  can  conceive  of  a  limit  to  the  wonders  of  infinite  power 
and  infinite  space  ? 

We  have  met  with  an  article  of  unusual  interest  on  this  subject  in  a  late  num- 
ber of  the  Christian  Review.  We  have  no  knowledge  of  the  writer  ;  but  be  he 
who  he  may,  we  should  be  pleased  to  hear  from  him  again.  The  article  re- 
ferred to  is  so  full  of  interest,  that  it  has  occurred  to  us  that  we  could  not  give 
our  readers  a  more  acceptable  treat,  than  by  laying  it,  in  extenso,  before  them. 
But  as  our  limits  forbid  this,  at  present,  we  must  be  satisfied  with  the  author's 
remarks  on  the  vastness  of  the  "  stellar  firmament."  We  shall  most  probably 
give  attention  to  the  same  subject  again  ;  and,  in  that  event,  shall  be  pleased  to 
furnish  more  extracts  from  the  same  source. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  the  uninformed  reader,  we  will  just  observe,  that  the 
star,  Sirius,  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  following  extract,  is  what  is  com- 
monly called  the  "  dog  star ;"  it  is  the  largest  star  in  tho  constellation,  Canis 
Major  ;  it  is  one  of  the  brightest  and  most  beautiful  objects  in  the  siderial  firma- 
ment ;  and  may  be  seen  at  this  season  of  the  year,  early  in  the  evening,  a  little 
We st  of  South,  and  at  an  elevation  of  about  35  or  10  degrees. 


14  The  Fixed  Stars. 

11  We  cannot  pretend  to  survey  the  whole  of  the  ample 
field  here  opened  to  our  view.  Our  limits  restrict  us  to  the 
notice  of  but  two  or  three  topics,  selected  from  many  which, 
are  all  equally  interesting. 

First,  then,  let  us  collect  together  under  one  view,  the  con- 
clusions of  astronomers  upon  the  distances  of  the  fixed  stars 
— their  arrangement,  and  the  consequent  vastness  of  the 
stellar  firmament.  Without  repeating  what  we  have  before 
said  on  this  subject,"  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  the  diam- 
eter of  the  earth's  orbit,  equal  to  about  190,000,000  of  miles, 
"would  dwindle  to  a  mere  point  if  seen  from  the  nearest  of 
the  fixed  stars.  Of  this  fact,  there  is  not,  in  the  judgment  of 
astronomers,  the  shadow  of  a  doubt.  And  though  we  cannot 
here  spread  before  our  readers  all  the  evidence,  upon  which 
this  conclusion  rests,  we  can  assure  them  that  no  evidence 
short  of  a  mathematical  demonstration  can  be  stronger.  We 
are  sure  that  every  one,  who  examines  the  subject,  must  ad- 
mit its  validity.  But  the  distance,  at  which  the  diameter  of 
the  earth's  orbit  would  become  a  mere  point,  that  is  to  say, 
less  than  one  second  of  angular  space  (which  is  about  the  least 
quantity  directly  and  certainly  measurable  by  the  best  instru- 
ments), cannot  be  less  than  19,200,000,000,000  miles,  or  such 
that  light  moving  at  the  rate  of  192,000  miles  in  a  second, 
must  be,  at  least,  three  and  a  half  years  in  coming  to  us. 

From  these  undoubted  facts,  the  necessary  inference  is,  that 
the  stars  are  so  many  suns;  and  many  of  them,  far  greater 
than  our  own,  and  shining  with  an  intrinsic  splendor,  in  com- 
parison with  which  ours  would  fade  into  a  minute  star, 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  But,  have  we 
any  means  of  knowing,  it  may  be  asked,  what  would  be  the 
visible  magnitude  and  brightness  of  our  sun,  seen  from  the 
distance  of  a  star?  Two  principles  of  undoubted  truth  will 
-enable  us  to  form  a  definite  opinion  upon  this  point:  first,  that 
the  visible  diameter  is  inversely  as  the  distance  ;  and  se- 
condly, that  the  brightness  is  inversely  as  the  square  of  the 
distance.  At  double  our  present  distance,  for  instance,  the 
sun  would  have  half  the  visible  magnitude  and  one  quarter 
the  brightness  which  it  now  has.  Pursuing  this  principle, 
we  are  altogether  sure  that,  if  our  sun  were  seen  at  200,000 
times  its  present  distance,  which  at  most  would  only  equal 
that  of  the  nearest  star,  its  visible  magnitude  would  be  re- 
duced to  the  200,000th  part  of  what  it  now  is,  or  to  less  than 


Sec  No.  II.  o/tlie  Christian  Review,  i>.  211.  el  seq.. 


The  Fixed  Stars.  15 

the  100th  part  of  one  second;  and  its  brightness  would  equal 
only  the  40,000,000,000th  part  of  its  present  splendor.  We 
are  aware  that  numbers  so  vast  furnish  but  a  very  inadequate 
means  of  forming  a  definite  conception,  but  we  have  nothing 
better  to  take  their  place.  It  is  ascertained,  with  a  good  de- 
gree of  certainty,  by  direct  measurement,  that  the  solar  bright- 
ness, diminished  in  the  ratio  expressed  by  those  figures,  would 
only  equal  that  of  a  star  of  the  second  magnitude.  The  con- 
clusion, therefore,  that  the  stars  are,  in  fact,  resplendent  suns, 
is  not  only  admissible,  but  one  which  can  no  longer  be  re- 
sisted. 

But  the  supposition  which  we  have  here  made  with  regard 
to  the  distance  of  the  stars,  is  the  least  which  the  facts  allow. 
The  stars  may  be — and  there  arc  very  strong  analogical  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  many  of  them  are — immeasurably  be- 
yond the  limits  here  assigned.  Our  knowledge  on  this  inte- 
resting point  has,  until  recently,  been  wholly  negative.  One 
determination  has  been  made,  within  the  last  few  years,  too 
important  not  to  be  noticed  in  connection  with  this  topic. 
We  refer  to  the  researches  of  Bessel,  of  Konigsburg,  on  the 
parallax  of  the  fixed  stars.  Not  a  little  enterprise  and  self- 
reliance  were  necessary  to  renew  an  experiment  which  almost 
every  observer,  from  the  period  of  the  invention  of  the  tele- 
scope, had  tried  in  vain.  This  eminent  astronomer,  in  a  let- 
ter to  Sir  John  Herschel,  says  :  "After  so  many  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  determine  the  parallax  of  a  fixed  star,  I  thought 
it  worth  while  to  try  what  might  be  accomplished  by  means 
of  the  accuracy  which  my  great  Fraunhofer  Heliometer  gives 
to  the  observations." *  For  this  purpose,  he  selected  the 
double  star  61,  Cygni,  and  taking  two  small  stars,  the  one 
in  the  line  of  the  double  stars,  and  the  other  perpendicular  to 
it,  he  made,  in  different  seasons  of  the  year,  nearly  one  hun- 
dred micrometrical  measurements  of  the  distance  between 
the  middle  point  of  the  double  stars  and  each  of  the  others. 
From  these  observations,  he  concluded  that  the  existence  of 
a  sensible  annual  parallax  could  no  longer  be  doubted  :  and 
the  most  probable  value  in  the  case  of  that  star  he  found  to- 
be  0  ,3'13b*j  or  a  little  less  than  one-third  of  a  second.  As- 
suming this  to  be  the  true  value,  "we  find,"  he  adds,  "that 
the  distance  of  the  star  61,  Ci/gni,  from  the  sun,  is  657,700 
mean  distances  of  the  earth  from  the  sun.  Light  employs 
10.3  years  to  traverse  this  distance."     Sturve,  of  Dorpat, 


*  See  Loudon  and  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science,  for  January,  1839. 


16  The  Fired  Stars. 

with  another  of  Fraunhofer's  magnificent  telescopes — the 
most  effective  perhaps,  all  things  considered,  which  has  ever 
been  made — had,  we  believe,  previously  obtained,  by  similar 
observations  on  a,  Lyra,  decided  indications  of  an  annual 
parallax. 

From  the  very  high  character  of  Bessel,  as  a  practical  as- 
tronomer, a  good  degree  of  confidence  is  placed  in  the  accu- 
racy of  his  determination.  We  have,  then,  almost  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  astronomy,  a  positive  approxima- 
tion to  the  distance  of  one  of  the  fixed  stars.  And  how  vast 
must  that  distance  be,  which  light  would  not  traverse  in  less 
than  ten  and  one-third  years  ?  But  this  star  is  only  one  of 
millions  which  the  telescope  reveals.  How  distant  are  the 
rest?  In  the  absence  of  direct  and  certain  evidence,  let  us 
follow  the  guidance  of  analogy,  in  meditating  upon  this  ques- 
tion. There  is,  then,  no  presumption  at  all  that  all  the  stars 
are  at  the  same  distance  from  us.  Nor  is  there  the  slightest 
ground  to  suppose,  that  all  the  large  stars  are  situated  next, 
in  space,  to  our  system,  and  all  the  small  ones,  in  the  remoter 
parts  of  creation.  The  most  reasonable  supposition  is,  that 
they  arc  scattered,  not  indeed  uniformly,  for  this  is  incom- 
patible with  appearances,  but  with  such  a  general  tendency 
to  it,  as  to  intermingle  great  and  small  stars  together  through- 
out the  whole  vast  stellar  space.  There  are  many  beautiful 
compact  clusters,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Pleiades;  there  are  also 
many  vacant  spaces,  where  the  most  powerful  telescope  re- 
veals no  light.  Yet  the  only  plausible  supposition,  with  re- 
gard to  the  general  distribution  is,  that  these  clusters  and 
these  vacant  spots,  as  well  as  the  single  stars,  are  scattered 
through  space  with  some  general  approximation  to  uniformity. 
Upon  this  supposition,  then,  what  inference,  if  any,  can  be 
made  as  to  the  shape  of  the  sidereal  heavens,  taken  as  a 
whole;  and  In  what  part  of  this  great  space  is  our  own  sys- 
tem located  ?  In  reply  to  these  questions,  we  must  revert  to 
Herschel's  opinion,  that  the  stellar  firmament  is  not  spheri- 
cal, but  comprised  between  two  parallel  planes.  The 
reader  may  form  a  tolerably  correct  conception  of  his  idea  by 
supposing  this  space  to  resemble  the  shape  of  a  broad,  thick 
plank,  the  length  being  much  greater  than  the  breadth,  and 
the  breadth  considerably  greater  than  the  thickness.  The 
grounds  upon  which  this  opinion  rests,  will  be  easily  under- 
stood, if  we  bear  in  mind  the  principles  of  distribution  above 
made.  It  is  quite  manifest,  in  looking  at  the  heavens  with 
the  naked  eye,  and  still  more  so  with  the  telescope,  that  some 


The  Fixed  Stars.  17 

Kg 

portions  are  far  richer  in  stars  than  others;  and  it  is  equally 
manifest,  that  there  is  one  great  belt  extending  quite  round 
the  heavens,  where  there  is  an  extraordinary  compression  of 
stars.  This  belt,  from  the  diffused  whitish  light  by  which  it 
is  distinguished,  is  called  the  Milky  Way.  On  one  occasion, 
while  observing  one  of  the  richest  portions  of  it,  Herschel 
concluded  that  not  less  than  50,000  stars,  which  could  be  dis- 
tinctly numbered,  passed  his  field  of  view,  during  one  sweep 
of  the  telescope,  embracing  a  little  strip  of  sky  fifteen  degrees 
in  length  and  two  in  breadth.  Other  portions  present  mil- 
lions and  millions,  so  crowded  together  as  to  defy  all  power 
of  enumeration.  And  yet  the  fair  presumption  is,  that  those 
minute  telescopic  points  are  separated  from  each  other  by  in- 
tervals not  less"  immense  than  that  which  divides  them  from 
us.  Now  this  prodigious  apparent  condensation  is  accounted 
for  by  supposing  that  iheplanfe  of  stars  before  mentioned,  is 
extended  lengthwise  in  the  direction  of  the  Milky  Way.  Our 
system  is  conceived  to  be  placed  not  far  from  the  centre  of 
-  breadth  and  thickness  ;  and  hence,  when  we  look  towards  the 
face  or  broad  surface,  we  see  the  fewest  stars ;  when  we  look 
towards  the  edge  they  become  more  numerous;  while,  in 
looking  toward  the  end,  they  crowd  upon  the  view  in  "glo- 
rious multitudes,"  which  no  man  can  number.  To  many 
readers,  this  idea  of  Herschel's  will  doubtless  appear  altoge- 
ther fanciful  and  undeserving  the  confidence  of  sound,  well- 
balanced  minds.  But  let  it  be  remembered,  that  some  defi- 
nite, fixed  arrangement  there  must  be;  and  that  certainly 
there  is  no  such  a  priori  argument  in  favor  of  a  spherical 
one,  as  to  preclude  every  other  supposition.  In  the  judgment 
of  astronomers,  the  hypothesis  in  question  best  explains  the 
appearance,  and  on  that  ground  it  has  received  general  favor. 
Difference  in  brightness  depends,  therefore,  in  many  cases, 
at  least,  on  difference  of  distance.  Let  us  inquire  whether 
we  have  any  grounds  for  an  opinion  as  to  the  relative  distance 
of  the  nearest  star  and  the  most  remote.  From  what  has 
been  before  said,  the  only  rational  conclusion  as  to  the  distri- 
bution, is,  that  many  of  the  smaller  stars  are  intrinsically  of 
the  first  magnitude,  and  appear  small  only  by  reason  of  their 
vast  distance.  Now,  in  *the  case  of  two  stars  of  the  same 
magnitude,  we  know  that  their  apparent  brightness  will  be 
inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distances.  This  principle  fur- 
nishes the  means  of  a  comparison.  The  younger  Herschel 
has  ascertained  by  direct  measurement  that  the  average  bright- 
ness of  a  star  of  the  sixth  magnitude,  which  is  about  the  least 

3 


18  The  Fixed  Stars. 

visible  to  the  naked  eye,  is  equal  to  only  the  324th  part  of 
that  of  Sirius.  Many  stars  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  must 
then  be  eighteen  times  more  remote  than  Sirius,  or  such,  that 
light  would  require  at  least  sixty-three  years  in  coming  from 
them  to  us  !  And  this  conclusion  is  not  a  mere  conjecture. 
It  rests  upon  a  supposition  plainly  the  most  rational  which 
can  be  made  as  to  the  collocation  of  large  and  small  stars,  and 
upon  direct  measurements  of  the  intensity  of  light,  with  re- 
spect to  which  there  may  be  some  error  as  to  the  degree  of 
brightness,  but  none  at  all  as  to  the  principle  on  which  the 
determinations  depend.  While  we  concede,  then,  that  this 
conclusion  is  not  demonstrative,  we  maintain  that  it  rests 
upon  the  very  highest  grounds  of  probability. 

But  we  have  not  yet  exhausted  this  subject.  We  have  ad- 
vanced but  a  comparatively  little  way  toward  the  outer  limits 
of  the  visible  universe.  If  the  unaided  vision  can  penetrate 
thus  far  into  the  depths  of  space,  what  limits  shall  we  assign 
to  the  space-penetrating  power  of  the  telescope  ?  To  this  in- 
quiry, Herschel  directed  great  attention;  and  the  result  of  his 
investigation  was  a  decided  opinion,  that  with  his  great  forty 
feet  telescope,  with  a  reflector  four  feet  in  diameter,  and  a  mag- 
nifying power  of  over  6000,  he  could  pick  up  a  star  situated 
at  the  192d  order  of  distance;  or  192  times  more  distant  than 
any  which  can  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye ; — in  other  words, 
suppose  192  stars  situated  in  a  right  line,  and  separated  "from 
each  other  by  intervals  equal  to  the  distance  of  the  most  re- 
mote star  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  the  farthest  in  the  series 
would  not  surpass  the  reach  of  his  telescope.  Nor  will  this 
appear  incredible  when  the  powers  of  his  instrument  are  well 
understood.  And  on  this  point  we  cannot  do  better  thara 
quote  the  following  paragraph  from  our  author  : 

'  Dwell  for  a  short  time  on  the  dimensions  and  consequent  power  of  this  won- 
derful telescope,  and  I  venture  to  say  you  will  no  longer  be  skeptical  when  I 
speak  of  seeing  into  space.  If  the  mirror  had  reflected  all  the  light  which  felt 
upon  it,  it  would  virtually  have  been  an  eye  with  a  pupil  of  four  feet  diameter  ; 
that  is,  it  would  have  been  more  powerful  than  the  human  eye,  by  as  much  as 
the  surface  of  its  enormous  disc  exceeded  the  small  surface  of  our  pupil  ! — And 
making  allowance  for  much  light  being  unavoidably  lost,  still  how  great  must 
have  been  its  power  ?  That  body  is  faint  indeed,,  or  inconceivably  remote,  of 
which  it  could  give  us  no  hope  of  intimation  ;  and  it  is  no  marvel  that  it  sounded 
our  firmament,  mighty  as  it  is,  and  ranged  unwearied  among  the  abysses  of  the 
dark  infinite  beyond.  The  lustre  with  which  it  clothed  the  bodies  in  our  im- 
mediate vicinity  is  said  to  have  been  inexpressibly  beautiful.  Herschel  him- 
self, intent  on  far  discovery,  seldom  looked  at  the  larger  stars;  and,  because 
their  blaze  injured  his  eye,  he  rather  avoided  their  transit.    But  he  tells  us,  that 


The  Fixed  Stars.  19 

at  one  time,  after  a  considerable  sweep  with  his  instrument,  "  the  appearance 
of  Sirius  announced  itself,  at  a  great  distance,  like  the  dawn  of  the  morning,  and 
came  on  by  degrees,  increasing  in  brightness,  till  this  brilliant  star  at  last  entered 
the  field  of  the  telescope  with  all  the  splendor  of  the  rising  sun,  and  forced  ma 
to  take  my  eye  from  the  beautiful  sight."  ' 

Reflect  for  a  moment  upon  the  amazing  extent  to  which  we 
are  enabled,  with  the  aid  of  the  telescope,  to  penetrate  the 
depth  of  the  stellar  space,  so  as  to  pick  up  and  examine  a 
single  star,  192  times  further  than  the  remotest  which  can  be 
seen  by  the  naked  eye  !  or  such,  that  light  must  occupy  more 
than  12,000  years  in  coming  to  us  !  And  does  this  fix  the 
limit  of  creation  ?  Can  it  be  believed  that  at  this  distance, 
inconceivable  as  it  is,  we  have  reached  a  point  beyond  which 
there  is  nothing,  and  where  the  wearied  energies  of  creative 
power  could  do  no  more  ?  Have  our  eyes  bebeld  tbe  last 
solitary  orb,  situated  on  the  very  verge  of  creation,  and  look- 
ing into  the  awful  vacuity  which  stretches  onward  to  absolute 
infinity  beyond  it  ?  This  we  should  hardly  be  prepared  to 
admit,  much  less  to  assert,  even  though  our  vision  could  go 
no  farther.  But  we  are  not  left  in  doubt  on  this  point.  Our 
most  adventurous  explorer  of  the  heavens  did  not  stop  at  this 
short  goal.  The  spots  of  diffused  nebulous  light  which  are 
thickly  scattered  in  many  parts  of  the  heavens  were  next  ex- 
amined. Some  of  them  were  resolvable  into  stars,  with  the 
use  of  the  lower  powers  of  the  telescope.  Others,  which  the 
lower  powers  could  not  resolve,  yielded  to  the  higher.  And 
thus,  using  powers  which  varied  from  400  to  over  6000,  he 
found  that  thehigher  the  power  the  greater  the  number  of  those 
faintly  shining  spots  which  were  resolved  into  distinct  stars. 
It  is  computed  that  many  of  these  nebulous  clusters  must  con- 
tain at  least  twenty  thousand  stars,  in  a  space  not  more  than 
one-tenth  of  that  covered  by  the  moon's  disc.  Then,  be- 
sides these  resolvable  clusters,  there  are  very  many  others, 
which  as  yet  remain  irresolvable.  After  many  efforts  to  de- 
termine the  reach  of  his  instrument,  Herschel  concluded  that 
with  its  highest  powers  "  he  could  descry  a  cluster  of  5000 
individuals,  were  it  situated  three  hundred  thousand  times 
deeper  in  space  than  Sirius  jirobably  is."  Light  from 
such  a  cluster  must  have  occupied  at  least  one  million  of 
years  in  coming  to  us  f  Is  this  impossible?  Does  it  con- 
tradict any  known  law  of  the  system  ?  Does  it  conflict  with 
any  of  the  analogies  which  we  are  able  to  trace  in  the  physi- 
cal universe  ?  Startling  and  incredible  as  this  conclusion 
may  at  first  appear,  no  astronomer  would  have  the  hardihood 


20  The  Progress  of  Isms. 

to  pronounce  it  impossible.  Nay,  farther,  every  sound  mind 
vrould  doubtless  admit  the  separate  probability  of  every  step 
in  the  chain  of  evidence  upon  which  it  depends.  It  is  clearly 
possible,  then,  that  Herschel,  on  some  clear  evening,  when 
the  starry  firmament  was  rejoicing  in  its  utmost  splendor, 
may  have  caught  glimpses  of  light  which  ten  thousand  cen- 
times had  only  sufficed  to  transmit  from  its  remote  origin  to 
our  system  ?  We  say  nothing  of  the  bearing  of  this  fact, 
such  allowing  it  to  be,  upon  the  chronology  of  the  creation. 
We  regard  it  merely  as  illustrative  of  the  vastness  of  the 
material  universe.  And  in  what  commanding  tones  does  it 
speak  to  us  of  the  all-pervading  presence  and  the  ineffable 
glory  of  that  Being,  who,  from  his  lofty  throne,  looks  down 
upon  this  vast  domain,  this  boundless  range  of  worlds,  and 
covers  them  all  with  the  shadow  of  his  wing  ! 


THE  PROGRESS  OF.ISMS. 

We  perceive  by  the  lalest  accounts,  that  the  various  Isms  of  the  day  are 
making  a  headway  fully  commensurate  with  the  character  of  the  times. 

MillekiSm  is  rapidly  gaining  ground.  Mr.  Miller  and  his  adherents  are 
laboring  with  great  zeal,  and  a  corresponding  measuie  of  success,  in  making 
converts  to  their  theory  of  the  conflagration  of  the  world  in  1843.  Their  lec- 
tures are  said  to  be  attended  by  crowded  assemblies,  and  received  with  profound 
attention  and  respect.  Still,  however,  we  do  not  learn  that  the  world  is  much 
the  better  of  all  this,  or  that  those  who  profess  to  embrace  the  theory  have  ma- 
terially altered  their  course  of  life. 

Moemonism  also  seems  to  be  advancing.  Joe  Smith,  in  defiance  of  all 
opposition,  is  said  to  persevere  in  the  erection  of  his  temple,  which  is  to  be  the 
focus  of  all  moral  and  religions  perfection.  Not  long  since,  be  found  a  remark- 
able stone,  by  means  of  which  he  was  enabled  to  work  miracles  and  foretell 
future  events.  The  latest  accounts  state  that  he  is  now  engaged  in  translating 
the  "  Book  of  Abraham,1'  a  document  said  to  have  been  written  by  the  old  pa- 
triarch himself,  and  to  have  been  found  lately  in  one  of  the  Egyptian,  cata- 
combs. The  numbers  of  this  sect  are,  of  course,  rapidly  increasing  ;  and 
Mormonism,  notwithstanding  its  manifold  absurdities,  bids  fair  to  become  a 
very  respectable  concern. 

Perfectionism  also  is  going  a-head.  Like  most  other  new  things  of  the 
day,  the  Oberlin  theology  seems  to  be  getting  a  very  fair  run.  A  church  of 
this  order  was  lately  constituted  in  Nevv  York,  composed  of  members  chiefly 
drawn  from  Presbyterian  or  Congregational  churches  of  that  city.  The  senti- 
ments of  the  sect  are  said  to  have  spread  widely  ;  and,  it  is  added,  a  few  Bap- 
lists  have  partially  embraced  them. 

Of  Abolitionism  we  have  not  heard  much  of  late.  The  Vermont  Telegraph, 
and  the  Christian  Reflector,  since  the  suspension  of  our  paper,  have  not  come  to 


The  Temperance  Reform.  21 

hand.  We  therefore  know  very  little  of  what  is  going  on  among  our  old  friends 
of  the  North  and  East.  We  presume,  however,  that  the  party  is  making  the 
usual  headway  among  the  isms  and  inventions  of  the  age.  By  the  last  accounts, 
they  were  drilling  their  forces  for  the  battle  to  be  fought  in  1844. 

Animal,  Magnetism,  too,  seems  to  be  in  good  odour.  Its  professors  stilL 
continue  to  deliver  lectures,  to  perform  experiments,  and  to  make  proselytes. 
Young  women  are  still  put  to  sleep,  and  thereby  made  to  see  without  eyes,  and, 
for  any  thing  known  to  us,  to  hear  without  ears.  It  is  confidently  affirmed  that 
a  person  fully  magnetised,  can  read  a  letter  without  breaking  the  seal — can  ex- 
plore the  interior  of  the  human  body  without  dissection,  and,  we  suppose,  of 
course,  can  survey  any  other  object,  however  veiled,  however  invisible  !  ! 


THE  TEMPERANCE  REFORM. 

The  late  Temperance  Reform  commenced  in  this  city  in 
November  or  December  last.  At  the  outset  it  excited  un- 
usual interest,  and  was  attended  and  followed  by  extraordinary 
results.  Persons  of  all  ages  and  classes  of  society  took  the 
pledge,  and  many  of  our  most  inveterate  drunkards  were 
hopefully  reformed.  The  interest,  we  believe,  is  still  kept 
up,  and,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  reformed  still  retain  their  in- 
tegrity. 

The  agent  from  Baltimore,  Mr.  Carey,  himself  a  reformed 
drunkard,  and  the  principal  instrument  in  giving  an  impulse 
to  the  movement  in  this  place,  was,  soon  after,  sent  for  from 
sundry  of  our  towns  and  villages  in  this  State.  In  every 
place  to  which  he  went,  so  far  as  we  have  learned,  his  labors 
were  attended  by  a  success  similar  to  what  has  been  witnessed 
in  this  city.  Great  interest  was  excited — multitudes  signed 
the  pledge — and  numbers  of  drunkards  and  inveterate  topers 
were  reformed. 

From  this  State,  we  have  understood,  the  agent  went,  by 
invitation,  to  South  Carolina,  where  a  success  followed  his 
labors  not  inferior  to  that  which  had  been  realized  in  this 
region.  In  Charleston,  Columbia,  and  other  places,  we  have 
been  informed,  the  interest  felt,  and  the  good  done,  were 
very  great. 

We  have  no  means  at  hand  of  estimating  the  amount  of 
interest  created,  nor  of  computing  the  number  of  reformations 
effected  ;  but  our  impression  is,  that  the  present  reformation 
exceeds  all  that  has  been  heretofore  done  in  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance, in  a  ratio  almost  surpassing  computation. 

There  are  some  considerations  connected  with  the  present 
reform,  which  should  not  be  suffered  to  pass  without  remark. 


22  The  Temperance  Reform. 

We  allude  particularly  to  the  means  of  excitement — the  prin- 
ciple of  operation — and  the  end  contemplated. 

Heretofore,  the  usual  means  of  exciting  and  maintaining  an 
interest  on  the  subject  of  temperance,  was  the  holding  of 
meetings,  and  the  delivering  of  lectures  and  speeches.  These, 
in  process  of  time,  became  threadbare,  and,  eventually,  lost 
their  power  to  entertain  or  produce  conviction.  When  Mr. 
Carey  came  to  this  State,  he  introduced  a  new  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding, which  was,  to  request  the  converts  to  relate  their 
experience.  The  personal  history  of  reformed  drunkards — 
including  their  feelings,  their  trials,  their  struggles  with  the 
enemy,  &c.  &c,  was  heard  with  wonderful  effect.  A  general 
and  powerful  interest  was  excited.  The  most  abandoned 
found  hope  for  himself  in  the  experience  of  others.  The 
evidence  contained  in  matters  of  fact,  appealing,  as  it  must,  to 
the  heart  and  the  conscience,  as  well  as  to  the  judgment,  was 
not  to  be  resisted.  The  consequence  was,  the  moderate 
drinker  forsook  his  bottle,  and  the  hopeless  drunkard  his  de- 
spondency; and  all  came  forward  together,  to  unite  their  in*- 
fluence  for  the  cause,  for  themselves,  and  for  one  another. 

The  principle  of  operation  also  was  new.  Heretofore  the 
practice  had  been,  to  receive  none  to  membership  whose 
character  was  not  such  as  to  adorn  his  profession.  And,  on 
the  same  principle,  so  soon  as  a  member  violated  his  pledge, 
he  was  set  adrift  on  the  common  tide  of  dissipation  and, ruin. 
The  present  principle  is,  to  receive  to  membership  any  and 
all  that  can  be  induced  to  sign  the  pledge;  and  then,  instead 
of  expelling  them  when  they  offend,  the  principle  is,  to  bear 
with  their  infirmity — to  sympathise  in  their  misfortunes — to 
encourage  them  to  try  again — and,  as  far  as  possible,  to  throw 
around  them  the  moral  power  of  the  society,  to  shield  them 
from  temptation,  and  to  encourage  and  strengthen  them  in 
the  hour  of  trial.  As  may  be  seen,  this  principle  must  serve 
wonderfully  to  encourage  the  timid,  to  strengthen  the  weak, 
to  succor  the  tried,  to  rescue  the  forsaken  and  lost,  and,  in  a 
word,  to  render  the  efforts  of  the  society  singularly  efficient 
in  the  work  of  reformation. 

The  end  proposed  by  the  new  order  of  societies,  is  not  less 
novel  and  commanding  than  their  mode  of  proceeding,  and 
principle  of  operation.  Until  lately,  the  attention  of  our  so- 
cieties was  confined  to  the  preservation  of  the  temperate. 
The  idea  of  reforming  a  confirmed  drunkard  was  scarcely 
thought  of.  The  really  dissolute  and  abandoned,  were  con- 
sidered beyond  the  reach  of  help  or  of  hope.     To  such  no 


Revivals.  23 

inducement  was  offered,  either  to  reform,  or  to  attend  the 
temperance  meetings.  The  Washingtonians  have  learned, 
however,  that  the  case  of  the  drunkard,  even  the  most  in- 
veterate, is  by  no  means  a  hopeless  one.  On  the  contrary, 
they  make  the  reclaiming  of  such  a  principal  object — to  this 
end  they  adopt  their  machinery  and  their  efforts — and  to  this 
circumstance,  it  is  thought,  their  unparalleled  success  is 
mainly  to  be  attributed. 

We  should  be  pleased  to  learn  more  definitely  the  extent 
of  the  reformation  in  the  South,  and  in  this  State  particularly. 
We  will  add,  that,  if  any  one  will  prepare  an  article  on  this 
subject,  showing  the  number  of  societies  that  has  been  formed 
or  revived,  and  the  number  of  signers  and  reformed  drunk- 
ards added  to  each,  it  shall  be  more  than  welcome  to  a  place 
in  our  pages.  Editor. 


REVIVALS. 

Sixck  the  commencement  of  the  present  year,  the  most  extensive  revival  that 
has  heen  reported  is  that  at  Boston,  originated,  as  it  seems,  under  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Knapp. 

There  has  been  a  revival  of  considerable  interest  and  power  in  this  city.  It 
has  been  confined  mostly  to  the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches  ;  and  has 
now,  we  believe,  nearly  subsided.     The  number  of  additions  not  known. 

There  has  been  a  revival  of  much  interest  in  Fayetteville,  in  this  State.  Con- 
siderable additions  were  made  to  the  Baptist  church,  under  the  care  of  our 
brother  McDaniel,  but  we  have  not  been  informed  how  many. 

There  is  a  revival  of  unusual  power,  we  understand,  now  in  progress  in 
Wilmington,  in  this  State.  It  has  been  confined,  we  learn,  chiefly  to  the  Bap- 
tist church,  to  which  some  seventy  or  eighty  persons  have  been  added. 

A  revival  was  in  progress,  a  month  ago,  in  the  Baptist  congregation  in  Ports- 
mouth, Va.  Many  persons  had  professed  conversion,  and  many  more  wer& 
under  conviction  for  their  sins. 

A  letter  from  brother  Babcock,  of  Poughkeepsie,  published  in  the  Advocate, 
alludes  to  revivals  at  Rondout  village,  Patterson,  Carmel,  Beekmansville,  She- 
nandoa,  Fishkill  Plains,  and  Mattoewan,  all,  we^believe,  in  the  State  of  New 
York. 

The  N.  Y.  Baptist  Register  notices  revivals  at  Oswego,  Vernon,  Ashford, 
Hamilton,  and  Homer,  all  of  the  same  State. 

The  N.  H.  Baptist  Register  mentions  revivals  at  Lowell,  Mass.;  St.  Louis, 
Mo.;  Shady  Grove,  Tenn.;  Carrolton,  111.;  London,  Ohio  ;  Wilmington,  Del; 
Newcastle,  Ky.;  and  Bethany,  Pcnn. 


24  Missionary  Intelligence,, 

MISSIONARY  INTELLIGENCE. 

From  Germany  and  Denmark  the  latest  information  is  of  a  highly  interesting 
nature,  Mr.  Oncken,  under  date  of  Hamburg,  Feb.  23,  writes  brother  Allen, 
of  New  York,  to  the  following  effect . 

"  Rejoice  with  me,  dear  brother,  that  the  Lord  is  still  with 
us  to  bless  and  make  us  a  blessing.  We  have  now  fifteen 
churches,  and  though  many  of  them  have  been  called  to  fiery- 
trials,  all  have  stood  their  ground  and  have  increased  in  num- 
ber, and,  I  trust,  in  grace  and  knowledge.  We  had  to  rejoice 
in  an  increase  of  twenty-one  converts  in  1S41,  and  seven  or 
eight  persons  are  on  the  point  of  being  baptized  now.  Our 
meetings  are  crowded  to  excess,  and  all  bid  fair  for  a  far 
greater  extension  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

In  Denmark  God  has  kindled  a  fire,which  no  created  power 
will  be  able  to  destroy,  as  long  as  our  brethren  keep  to  the 
Bible.  The  persecutions  to  which  our  brethren  have  been 
subjected,  have  all  been  overruled  by  God,  to  the  furtherance 
of  the  gospel. 

The  missionaries,  brethren  Mccnster,  were  liberated  in 
November  last,  and  since  then,  though  strictly  prohibited 
from  preaching,  they  have,  proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  to 
multitudes,  and  many  have  been  converted  and  baptized." 

From  Burmah  the  latest  accounts  are  both  gloomy  and  encouraging.  The 
following  purports  to  be  an  extract  from  a  letter,  written  by  one  of  our  mission- 
aries at  Maulmain,  under  date  of  Nov.  8,  1S41  : 

"  Military  movement  in  Burmah. — '  In  regard  to  the 
news  among  us,  there  is  but  little  of  interest.  Troops  are 
coming  in  daily,  said  to  be  designed  to  act  only  on  the  de- 
fensive, and  probably  it  is  so.  The  occasion  of  their  assem- 
bling at  present  is,  the  descent  of  the  king  -of  Ava,  with  a 
large  armed  force,  to  Rangoon,  where  he  is  entrenching  him- 
self. He  refuses,  I  understand,  to  give  any  explanation  of 
the  object  of  his  coming. — Rumors  have  been  rife,  that  his 
object  is  none  other  than  to  re-conquer  the  provinces  wrested 
from  his  predecessor  in  the  last  war  with  the  English.  The 
prospect  is,  that  Maulmain  will  be  overrun  with  soldiers. — 
The  premises  of  brethren  Vinton  and  Howard  have  been  de- 
manded and  given  up  for  the  accommodation  of  one  regiment, 
very  much  to  our  inconvenience,  and  to  the  interruption  of 
efforts  in  the  way  of  schools.  What  will  be  the  result,  we  of 
course  cannot  know.     In  my  opinion,  war  is  very  .doubtful. 

Turning' to  God  among  the  Karens. — 'Letters  from 
Arracan  tell'  us  of  thousands  of  Karens  who  are  waiting  to  be 


The  Baptist  Church,  Raleigh.  25 

baptized  in  the  Burmese  territories.  Who  will  reap  the  har- 
vest ?  The  Lord  determine  it,  and  open  the  doors  that  his 
servants  may  enter  in." 

In  Greece,  our  Missionaries  have  been,  and  probably  still  are,  in  trouble. 
Owing  to  the  imprudent  zeal  of  one  of  the  brethren,  in  distributing  tracts  at  an 
improper  season,  popular  indignatioitbecame  excited,  the  Missionary  premises 
were  assailed  by  a  mob,  and  nothing  but  the  timely  interference  of  the  British 
authorities  saved  the  building  from  violence,  and  the  inmates  from  probable 
murder.  The  offender,  Mr.  Buel,  was  immediately  conveyed  to  the  citadel, 
under  a  strong  guard,  and  the  mob  eventually  dispersed  by  the  English  soldiery. 
The  excitement,  it  seems,  was  among  the  Greeks,  who  had  been  engaged  in 
celebrating  a  festival  in  honor  of  one  of  their  saints,  and  who,  by  some  means, 
misconstrued  the  proceeding  of  the  Missionary  as  an  act  of  indignity  offered  to 
their  worship.  The  transaction  referred  to,  occurred  at  Corfu,  one  of  the  small 
islands  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Grecian  peninsula. 

From  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  intelligence  is  encouraging,  Mr.  Coan,  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  under  date  of  Hilo,  Hawaii,  July  5th, 
1841,  thus  writes  respecting  the  church  under  his  own  charge  : 

"  Our  meetings  on  the  Sabbath  have  been  well  attended, 
and  a  good  degree  of  religious  interest  has  been  sustained 
during  our  absence.  Some  of  the  back-slidden  professors 
have  been  reclaimed,  and  sinners  are  now  coming  to  me  daily 
to  inquire  the  way  of  life.  Our  spiritual  prospects,  at  the 
present  time,  are  brighter  than  they  have  been  for  six  months 
past,  and  I  return  to  my  work  with  heart  enlarged  and  lifted 
up,  with  hands  strengthened  by  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob, 
and  with  e)'es  waiting  and  spirit  longing  for  the  salvation  of 
the  Lord.'' 


THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH,  RALEIGH. 

This  church  is  still  destitute  of  the  stated  ministry.     A  calf,  we  understand,, 
has  recently  been  extended   to  Bro.  J.  L.  Pritchard,  which  has  been  condition- 
ally accepted,  and  the  brethren  are  looking  with  "  strong  desire"  to  the  time 
when  they  shall  be  favored  with  the  privileges  of  a  regular  ministry. 

The  condition  of  their  place  of  worship  has  not  been  materially  changed 
since  last  November.  It  has  been  conveyed  by  a  deed  of  trust,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  certain  debts,  amounting  to  between  three  and  four  thousand  dollars, 
and  is  liable  to  be  sold  at  auction  whenever  the  creditors  shall  choose  to  say  the 
word.  The  sale  has  been  deferred  thus  long,  we  presume,  because  it  was  cer- 
tain that,  if  sold,  the  property  would  not  pay  the  debts  ;  and  besides,  perhaps  a 
hope  was  entertained,  that  an  effort  would  be  made  by  which  the  property  might 
be  redeemed.  Sundry  persons  have  undertaken  to  make  such  an  effort,  anil 
something  has  been  done,  we  learn,  in  the  way  of  taking  up  subscriptions  ;  but 

4 


26  Summary. 


nothing  has  been  effected  as  yet,  on  which  any  dependence  can  be  placed 
for  the  removal  of  existing  difficulties.  The  probability  is,  however,  that,  if 
something  decisive  be  not  undertaken  soon,  the  creditors  will  become  impatient, 
and  the  trustee  will  be  instructed  to  sell  the  property.  This  much  we  deem 
it  proper  to  say,  as  we  know  that  many  of  our  readers  in  this  State,  feel  a  deep 
interest  in  the  fate  of  this  unfortunate  coricern. 

P.  S.  It  is  perhaps  proper  that  we  should  add  here,  that  we  received  a  let- 
ter in  December  last,  from  Mr.  Win,  Royster,  of  Clarksville,  Virginia,  in  which 
the  writer  engages  to  pay  $50  for  the  relief  of  the  church  aforesaid,  provided  the 
requisite  sum  can  be  obtained.  The.  letter  was  not  published,  e.s  requested,  be- 
cause it  came  to  hand  too  late  for  insertion  before  the  suspension  of  the  Re- 
corder. 

SUMMARY. 

Difficulties  in  Rhode  Island. — The  good  people  of  ibis  quiet  little  State,  is 
is  said,  are  on  the  point  of  an  open  rupture.  A  discontent  has  for  some  time 
existed,  it  seems,  on  account  of  a  supposed  inequality  in  the  right  of  suffrage. 
The  Legislature  of  last  year  passed  a  law,  authorizing  a  Convention  to  be 
held  in  November  last,  for  the  purpose  of  amending  the  State  Constitution-. 
Some  of  the  provisions  of  this  act  not  satisfying  the  people,  the  latter  made  a 
movement  in  defiance  of  t:ie  Legislative  proceeding,  which  resulted  in  a  Con- 
vention, which  was  accordingly  held* in  October,  a  month  earlier  than  that  au- 
thorized by  the  Legislature.  This  Convention  adopted  a  new  Constitution, 
■which  was  in  due  time  submitted  to  the  people,  and  by  them  adopted  as  their 
own.  In  the  mean  time,  the  authorized  Convention  was  held,  and  by  them 
also  a  new  Constitution  was  framed,  which,  in  its  turn,  was  referred  to  the 
voters,  and  by  them  rejected.  The  point  of  contention  now  is,  whether  the 
government  shall  be  organized  under  the  Constitution  of  November,  184], 
which,  it  is  said,  has  received  the  r.opular  sanction,  or  whether  it  shall  proceed, 
as  it  has  been  doing  for  years,  under  the  provisions  of  the  charter  of  Charles  II. 
The  government  "party  favor  the  latter  view — the  popular  party,  the  former. 
Accordingly,  the  popular  party  have  proceeded  to  nominate  their  candidates  for 
State  offices,  and  design  to  hold  an  election  in  due  season,  with  a  view  of 
making  their  new  Constitution  the  law  of  the  land.  On  the  contrary,  the  gov- 
ernment.party  has  declared  this  proceeding  to  be  treason  ;  has  forbidden  any  citi- 
zen to  accept  an  appointment  under  the  new  constitution  ;  and  has  threatened  to 
stop  any  further  proceedings  by  force  of  arms.  The  popular  party,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  resolved  to  carry  their  point,  and,  if  necessary,  to  oppose  force  to 
force.  In  this  state  of  the  case,  both  parties  are  said  to  be  supplying  themselves 
with  weapons  ;  and  as  the  popular  party  are  the  most  numerous,  the  Governor 
has  applied  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  for  the  interposition  of  the- 
General  Government. 


Christening  of  the  Prince  of  Wales- — Our  readers,  we  presume,  are  gene- 
rally acquainted  with  the  fact,  that  the  infant  sonof  Queen  Victoria  was  chris- 


Summary.  27 

tened,  some  time  back,  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony,  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  thereby  constitutecra  member  of  the  Church  of  England.  The 
proceeding  was  attended  by  great  display,  and  afforded  an  occasion  of  unusual 
rejoicing  to  all  the  faithful  subjects  of  the  royal  mother.  One  circumstance  at- 
tended the  ceremony,  however,  which  is  likely  to  afford  a  bone  of  contention1  to 
the  people,  and  perhaps  not  a  little  inconvenience  to  the  prince  himself.  One 
of  the  sponsors  on  the  occasion,  it  seems,  was  the  King  of  Prussia,  who  attended 
in  person,  in  honor  of  the  event,  and  assumed  the  usual  responsibilities  in  be- 
half of  the  child,  But  the  King  of  Prussia,  it  appears,  is  a  Lutheran,  and  there- 
fore a  dissenter,  and,  of  course,  no  churchman.  This  defect,  it  begins  to  be 
seen,  is  likely  to  nullify  the  whole  proceeding  ;  and  thereby  to  impair  the  claims 
of  the  prince  to  the  succession  to  the  throne.  The  Pussyites,  it  is  said,  are  mak- 
ing a  great  noise  on  the  occasion,  and  are  loudly  protesting  against  the  whole 
proceeding  ;  and  if  their  numbers  should  continue  to  increase  as  they  have  done 
of  late,  it  is  thought  to  be  by  no  means  improbable,  that  the  right  of  succession 
of  the  young  prince  will  be  eventually  set  aside,  on  the  ground  that  he  has  not 
been  properly  initiated  into  the  faith  of  the.  Church  of  England. 


Disastrous  Occurrence. — The  new  steamer" Medora,  was  lately  blown  up  at 
Baltimore,  by  the  bursting  of  one  of  her  boilers,  and  the  most  heart-rending 
consequences  ensued.  The  boat,  it  seems,  was  in  the  act  of  leaving  the  wharf, 
on  an  excursion  of  pleasure,  for  the  purpose  of  testing  her  machinery.  About 
100  persons  were  on  board,  including  stock-holders,  citizens,  ahd  others.  Ow- 
ing to  improper  management,  it  is  said,  the  boiler  exploded,  and  occasioned  the 
destruction  of  the  boat,  together  with  a  large  proportion  of  the  people  on  board. 
Some  were  thrown  upon  the  wharf,  others  upon  adjoining  vessels,  others  into 
the  water,  while  many  were  scalded  o'r  suffocated,  and  went  down  with  the 
boat.  The  vessel  belonged  to  the  Norfolk  line,  had  just  been  completed,  and 
this  was  the  first  time  her  machinery  was  put  in  motion. 


Common  School  Bill  o/JVeio  York. — The  Legislature  of  New  York  has  at 
length  passed  a  bill,  which,  it  is  said,  meets  the  views  of  Bishop  Hughes,  the 
Roman  Catholic  prelate,  who  figured  so  largely  some  months  ago,  at  political 
agitation  meetings  in  the  city.  Some  go  so-far  as  to  affirm,  that  the  approbation 
of  the  Bishop  was  obtained  before  the  bill  was  submitted  to  the  Legislature. 
The  Catholic  party,  we  find,  are  full  of  exultation,  and  are  extolling  the  Bishop 
on  account  of  his  consummate  ability  and  perseverance.  The  Protestants,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  sadly  disappointed.  Some  of  them  endeavor  to  persuade 
themselves  that  all  will  be  well  at  last,  while  others  consider  the  cause  of  liberty 
betrayed,  and  openly  charge  the  Legislature  with  corruption.  For  ourselves, 
we  know  but  little  about  the  provisions  of  this  bill,  and  of  course  can  form  no 
judgment  of  its  mode  of  operation.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain  ;  in  the 
judgment  of  both  parties,  the  Catholics  have  obtained  a  signal  triumph  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  And  we  must  confess  that  we  are  not  at  all  surprised  at 
the  circumstance.  We  consider  this  bulra  part  of  the  grand  drama  that  has  been 
acting  in  that,  and  some  oi  the  neighboring  States,  for  years.     The  love  of 


28  Summary. 

ehange,  of  excitement,  and  of  innovation,  has  become  so  great  of  late,  that  a 
theory  has  only  to  be  boldly  broached  and  advocated,  to  obtain  general  favor. 
Possibly  our  friends  in  that  region  may  find  out,  when  too  late,  that  nothing  is 
to  be  gained  by  forsaking  the  old  paths. 


War  in  Texas. — A  war  is  said  to  be  progressing  between  Texas  and  Mexico; 
but  accounts  have  been  so  contradictory,  that  nothing  decisive  or  satisfactory  has 
been  learned.  The  last  reports  state,  that  President  Houston  had  issued  his 
proclamation,  declaring  the  Mexican  ports  in  a  state  of  blockade  ;  ordering  his 
troops  to  commence  the  invasion  of  Mexico  ;  and  expressing  his  determination 
not  to  stop  short  of  the  gates  of  Metamoras. 


Bishop  England,  the  distinguished  Roman  Catholic  prelate,  died  lately  in 
Charleston,  in  the  56th  year  of  his-age. 


A  late  arrival  from  England  brings  the  melancholy  intelligence,  that  Aflghan- 
istan,  in  the  East  Indies,  captured  two  or  three  years  ago  by  the  British,  has 
been  retaken  by  the  natives,  and  about  6,000  English  troops  cut  to  pieces.  Sir 
William  McNaughton,  the  British  Envoy,  was  treacherously  murdered,  and  his 
head  carried  in  triumph  through  the  streets.  The  ladies  of  the  Envoy  and  of 
several  other  officers,  are  detained  as  hostages  by  the  Affghans. 


Lord  Ashburton,  the  English  Plenipotentiary,  by  the  last  accounts,  had 
reached  Washington  Ciiy,  and  had  been  formally  introduced  to  the  President. 
He  has  come,  it  is  said,  fully  authorized  to  adjust  all  difficuliies  existing  between 
this  country  and  Great  Britain  ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  spirit  of  concilia- 
tion, thus  evinced  by  the  mother  country,  will  be  fully  reciprocated  by  those  in 
authority  on  this  side  the  water. 


The  Bill  for  the  .Abolition  of  Capital  Punishment,  which  has  so  long  en- 
grossed the  attention  of  the  New  York  Legislature,  lias  at  length  been  lost,  in 
the  House,  by  a  vote  of  45  to  55.  This  case  has  terminated  differently  from 
what  we  expected.  It  only  proves,  however,  that  the  reign  of  fanaticism,  among 
our  New  York  friends,  is  not  so  absolute  as  we  had  supposed.  A  year  or  two 
more  will  probably  be  sufficient  to  carry  this  bill,  with  sundry  others  of  a  kin- 
dred stamp.  A  bill  for  the  abolition  of  all  government,  we  expect  to  see  intro- 
duced and  advocated  in  a  due  course  of  time. 


Rcneival  of  Persecutions  in  Denmark. — The  last  Baptist  Advocate  contains 
a  letter  under  date  of  Copenhagen,  March  1st,  1S42,  in  which  it  is  stated  that 
the  brethren  in  Denmark  are  again  subjected  to  confiscation  and  imprisonment, 
for  dating  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences. 
Our  brethren  seem  to  be  in  good  heart,  however,  and  strong  in  the  assurance 
that  it  will  all  turn  out  for  the  advancement  of  evangelical  religion. 


Summary.  29 

Temperance  in  North  Carolina. — It  is  stated  that,  on  a  moderate  calcula- 
tion, 12,000  persons  are  supposed  to  have  joined  the  Washingtonians,  in  this 
State,  since  November  last.  Eternity  alone  can  disclose  the  amount  of  good 
which  has  been  thus  effected. 


Revival  in  Boston  and  Lowell. — The  late  revival  in  Boston  is  said  to  have 
been  the  most  powerful  ever  known  in  that  city.  It  is  still  in  progress.  There 
is  also  a  revival  in  Lowell.  The  following  paragraph,  from  the  N.  Y.  Baptist 
Register,  will  give  an  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  work  in  bolh  places  : 

"  A  letter  to  the  Christian  Watchman  says,  "that  Elder  Knapp  preached  for 
two  weeks  at  the  first  Baptist  church  in  that  place,  holding  prayer  meetings,  at 
six  in  the  morning,  and  ten  in  the  forenoon.  Over  one  hundred  converts  rose 
last  Saturday  evening  to  call  the  Lord's  name  blessed  ;  a  large  number  of  whom 
were  heads  of  families.  Yesterday,  he  commenced  his  work  wilh  the  Worthen 
street  Baptist  church.  Over  fifty  have  recently  been  baptized."  The  Christian 
Reflector  says,  the  additions  to  the  Baptist  church  in  Boston  by  baptism  the 
last  month  have  been  as  follows,  '  first  Church,  Rev.  Mr.  Neale,  68  ;  Baldwin 
Place,  Rev.  Mr.  Stow,  54-  ;  Charles  st.,  Rev.  Mr.  Sharp,  4  ;  Federal  st.,  Rev. 
Mr.  Hague,  9  ;  Boylston,  Rev.  Mr.  Turnbull,  65  ;  Free,  Rev.  Mr.  Colver,  29  ; 
Bowdoin  Square,  Rev.  Mr.  Cushman,  50  ;  South,  Rev.  Mr.  Driver,  53  ;  Inde- 
pendent, (colored,)  Rev.  Mr.  Raymond,  27  ;  total  350.  The  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship was  extended  to  all  those  last  Sabbath,  and  we  need  not  add  that  it 
was  a  day  long  to  be  remembered.  The  good  work  is  still  progressing  with  un- 
diminished power." 


ANNIVERSARIES. 

The  Anniversaries  of  the  Baptist  denomination  were  held  in  the  city  of 
New  York  during  the  course  of  last  week.  We  condense  the  following  state- 
ments from  the  Baptist  Advocate  of  Saturday. 

The  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  held  its  fifth  annual  meeting  in 
the  meeting  house  of  the  first  Baptist  Church,  on  the  26th.  The  Treasurer  re- 
ported a  balance  on  hand  of  $2958  19.  The  following  comprise  some  of  the 
details  of  the  Report  of  the  Board  of  Managers  : 

Number  of  new  Auxiliary  Societies  recognised  during  the  year,  11. 

Number  of  Life  Members  and  Life  Directors  added  to  the  list,  120. 

Number  of  volumes  presented  to  the  Biblical  Library  during  the  year,  146. 
Whole  number  of  volumes  in  the  Library,  623. 

Amount  of  labor  performed  by  Travelling  Agents,  38  months. 

Two  corrected  editions  of  the  English  Bible  were  printed  during  the  year, 
embracing  5,000  copies. 

The  Report  stated  that  at  least  $40,000  was  wanted  for  the  occupation  of 
present  fields  the  ensuing  year  ;  that  not  one  dollar  less  ought  to  be  used,  while 
$"10,000  more  than  that  sum  could  be  well  applied.  Mention  was  made  of  the 
lacts  that  the  English  Bible  Translation  Society,  had  been  approved  by  more 
than  700  churches  in  that  country  ;  that  it  had  the  last  year  received  about 
$15,000,  and  circulated  18,000  Bibles. 

The  acceptance  of  the  Repoit  was  moved  and  seconded  by  brethren  Hodge, 
of  Brooklyn,  and  Dodge,  of  Philadelphia,  each  of  whom  addressed  the  meet- 
ing. Addresses  were  also  made  by  brethren  John  Peck  and  Isaac  McCoy,  upon 
a  resolution  in  favor  of  giving  the  Bible  to  the  aborigines  of  our  own  country. 
Abstracts  of  these  addresses  will  be  given  in  a  luture  number.  At  present,  we 
are  obliged  to  omit  all  the  addresses  before  the  various  Societies- 
After  a  benediction  by  Dr.  Sharp,  the  Society  adjourned. 


30  Summary. 

The  American  Baj).  II.  M.  Society  held  its  tenth  anniversary  in  the  same 
place,  and  on  the  same  day.     The  following  summaries  are  highly  interesting  : 

FINANCIAL  AFFAIRS. 

By  the  Treasurer's  Report,  it  appears  that  the  total  amount  of  receints  for 
Home  Missions,  including  those  of  our  auxiliaries  the  past  year  is  §'57,154  72. 

The  receipts  into  the  Treasury  for  twelve  months  ending  on  the  15th  April, 
1842,  were  §12,569  92,  being  §1,753  II  more  than  last  year.  The  liabilities 
of  the  Society  at  the  same  date  were  $10,298  28.  The  resources,  a  small 
amount  of  which  only  is  immediately  available,  were  §3,963  24,  leaving  a  bal- 
ance against  the  Society  of  §6,335  04. 

Drafts  are  daily  made  upon  the  Treasurer  of  the  parent  Society  ;  a  heavy 
amount  of  liabilities  will  be  matured  on  the  1st  of  May  ;  and  unfavorable  an- 
swers are  returned  to  many  applicants  lor  aid/for  want  of  funds. 

SUMMARY  OF  MISSIONARY  LABOR. 

The  whole  number  of  agents  and  missionaries  who  have  acted  under  the 
commission  of  the  Society  the  past  year  is  97.  These  have  been  employed  in 
20  of  the  United  States  and  Territories,  in  Canada  and  Texas.  They  have  oc- 
cupied statedly  more  than  325  stations  ;  preached  9,485  sermons  ;  delivered 
678  public  addresses,  on  various  subjects  of  Christian  benevolence  ;  made  8055 
pastoral  visits,  and  145  visits  of  schools.  In  the  performance  of  these  duties 
they  have  travelled  111,688  miies. 

The  amount  of  ordinary  ministerial  labor  performed  by  them  is  equal  to  that 
of  one  man  67^-  years. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  a  vast  amount  of  labor  has  been  performed  by  them 
in  protracted  meetings,  and  meetings  for  moral  improvement,  in  Bible  and  tract 
distribution,  and  in  organizing  and  aiding  Sunday  schools,  temperance  and  other 
benevolent  societies. 

The  number  of  agents  and  missionaries  reported  by  auxiliary  societies  is  270. 
Their  joint  labors  amount  to  133  years  for  one  num.  They  have  occupied  more 
than  336  stations  ;  preached  24,124  sermons  ;  made  24,452  pastoral  visits,  and 
travelled  in  the  performance  of  their  labors  60,377  miles.  Total  367  agents  and 
missionaries  ;  33,509  sermons  preached  ;  200  years  labor,  and  172,065  miles 
travelled. 

RESULTS  OF  LABOR. 

The  missionaries  of  the  Society  report  the  baptism  of  1495  ;  the  organization 
of  36  churches,  and  the  ordination  of  16  ministers.  They  have  obtained  2981 
signatures  to  the  total  abstinence  pledge,  and  under  their  supervision  or  influ- 
ence 4654  pupils  have  been  instructed  in  Sunday  schools  and  Bible  classes,  by 
689  teachers. 

Among  the  Churches  aided  4  meeting  houses  have  been  completed,  and  the 
erection  of  13  others  has  been  commenced.  Two  churches  have  become  able 
to  sustain  themselves  without  further  missionary  aid.  From  42  of  the  churches 
§2798,61  have  been  paid  lor  benevolent  purposes.  In  the  entire  number  aided 
are  28  young  men  preparing  for  the  ministry. 

The  missionaries  of  auxiliaries  report  the  baptism  of  2727  persons,  and  150 
temperance  pledges  have,  been  obtained  by  them.  Making  a  total  of  4222  bap- 
tisms, and  3131  temperance  pledges. 

The  A-  Baptist  Publication  Society,  met  on  the  same  day  in  the  same 
place.  The  following  abstract  will  show  the  operations  Of  the  Society  for  the 
past  year  : 

The  receipts  of  the  Society,  including  balance,  §12,788  05 

Expenditures,  12,489  12 

Balance  in  Treasury,  298  93 

The  Society  has  published  3000  Banyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress  ;  3000  Howell 

on  Communion— Fathers  Apples — The  Cross — A  Catechism — 6  New  Tracts 


Summary.  81 

— 4  Youth's  Tracts.     The  whole  number  of  pages   of  Tracts  is  more  than  1,« 
000,000. 

About  $1,700  of  the  receipts  were  donations  to  the  Society.  The  remainder 
has  accrued  from  the  sale  of  books,  the  Baptist  Record,  or  has  merely  passed 
through  the  Society  as  a  channel  to  other  institutions  and  objects. 

The  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  met  in  the  place  of  worship  of  fho 
fust  Baptist  church,  on  the  day  succeeding.  The  following  is  an  abstract  from 
the  annual  report : 

Receipts  through  the  Churches  and  Auxiliaries,    '  §52,135  00 

From  other  bodies,  19,054  00 

Balance  due  the  Treasurer,  6,971  56 


78,062  56 


Expended  during  the  year  in  Asia,  29,956   11 

«            »                "           West  Africa,  3,936  00 
»               r  Greece,         3,611   00 
Europe,  "              <  Germany,     2,309  00 
«     •'     "              C France,        2,786  00 

8,697  00 

North  American  Indians,  6,186  00 

Secretaries,  3,557  00 
Agencies,                                                                                                     *  2,337  00 

Room  rent,  Insurance,  postage,  discount,  &c.  3,120  45 
Expended  in  behalf  of  other  Bodies  not  auxiliary  to  the  Convention,  19,054  00 

$78,062  50 

After  the  reading  of  the  Report,  Committees  were  appointed  on  various  por- 
tions of  its  contents. 

A  letter  was  read  by  the  Recording  Secretary,  brother  Stow,  of  Boston,  from 
brother  Richard  Fuller,  of  S.  C.  expressing  his  regret  that  he  could  not  be  pres- 
ent at  this  meeting,  and  his  strong  regard  for  the  mission  cause  and  his  Chris- 
tian brethren. 

It  was  announced  that  Jesse  Bushyhead,  a  Cherokee  preacher,  was  present, 
and  would  address  the  meeting.  On  his  being  conducted  to  the  desk,  the 
President  received  him  with  a  most  cordial  welcome,  and  expressed  his  deep 
interest  in  the  Christianization  of  the  Indians. 

Brother  Bushyhead  gave  a  very  interesting  address,  which  we  shall  furnish 
for  the  Advocate,  and,  by  request,  sung  a  couple  of  verses  in  Cherokee. 

After  prayer  by  brother  Noyes,  recent  missionary  to  Orissa,  adjourned  to 
meet  to-morrow  at  10  o'clock. 

Missions  20,  Stations  75,  American  Missionaries  and  Assistants  105,  Native 
Preachers  and  Assistants  110,  schools  44,  pupils  800,  Churches  69,  baptisms 
this  year  600,  number  of  communicants  3,E00  in  connexion  with  the  missions. 


Our  present  number. — We  arc  not  willing  that  the  present  number  should 
be  received  as  a  specimen  of  our  new  publication.  It  has  been  got  up  in  greaS 
haste,  and  without  experience  with  regard  to  our  limits.  In  consequence,  sev- 
eral articles,  designed  for  this  number,  have  been  excluded.  The  arrange- 
ment, in  other  respects,  is  not  such  as  we  could  have  wished.  Besides,  our 
type  does  not  exactly  suit  us.  Some  of  it  is  too  small,  and  some  too  largo. — 
These  and  other  defects  shall  bo  remedied,  however,  provided  we  get  the  rigid 
sort  of  encouragement  from  our  subscribers. 


32  Poetry. 

THE  BEREAVED  MOTHER'S  LAMENTATION. 

Written  for  a  Mother's  Album  after  the  death  of  her  only  daughter. 

■■ 
There  is  a  time  for  flowers  to  bloom, 

A  time  to  fade  and  die  ; 
A  time  for  vernal  showers  to  fall, 

And  stoirns  to  sweep  the  sky. 

A  time  for  cheeks  to  beam  with  joy, 

For  hearts  to  quake  with  fears. 
.For  eyes  with  kind  ling' hopes  to  glow, 

Or  swim  with  flowing  tears. 

A  flower  once  on  my  bosom  bloomed  ; 

I  revelled  on  its  charms; 
But  while  I  gazed,  and  smiled,  and  loved, 

It  faded  in  my  arms  ! 

But  0  !  the  hopes  that  withered  there, 
Upon  that  dying  bed  !  i 

When  that  bright  eye  in  death  was  dim, 
That  soul  from  earth  had  fled. 

My  Mart  !  O,  my  sweetest  love ! 

When  forced  with  thee  to  part, 
Thou  ne'er  shalt  feel  or  know 

The  grief  that  wrung  my  heart. 

When  gently  pillowed  on  my  breast, 

Thy  head  in  quiet  lay, 
I  knew  thou  wast  but  fragile  dust, 

Thy  form  but  crumbling  clay. 

Still,  oft  I  hoped  thy  smiles  would  cheer 

My  last  declining  years, 
Would  calm  thy  mother's  heaving  sighs, 

And  hush  her  anxious  fears. 

But  thou,  sweet  child,  hast  gone  to  rest , 

Sleep  on,  in  quiet  sleep  ; 
I  would  not  call  thee  back  to  earlh; 

Sleep  on,  in  q.uiet  sleep. 

From  pain  and  sickness  free,  within 

Thy  Saviour's  bosom  rest ; 
Gaze,  lovely  babe,  upon  the  Lord, 

And  be  forever  blest. 

This  vale  of  tears  will  soon  be  past, 
|  Eternity  is  near  ; 

Then,  0,  my  child  !  I'll  quell  my  sighs  ; 

1  hope  to  meet  you  there.  Em©, 


THE  SOUTHERN 


Vol.  I.  RALEIGH,  JUNE,  1842.  No.  2- 

THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  1S43. 
We    find   the  following  remarkable  paragraph   in  a  late 
number  of  the  "  Signs  of  the  Times."     We  find  also  the  same 
paragraph  published,  with  apparent  approbation,  in  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's Millennial  Harbinger. 

"  One  short  year  more  of  trials  and  afflictions,  and  I  shall  expect  to  see  Him 
who  will  justify  himself,  his  word,  and  his  people,  before  all  flesh  ;  and  then  he 
will  cleanse  his  sanctuary,  and  make  the  place  of  his  feet  glorious.  Then  will 
his  tabernacle  be  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell  among  them,  and  he  will  be 
tbeir  God,  and  they  shall  be  his  people.  Sighing  and  sorrow  shall  be  done 
away  ;  tears  shall  be  wiped  from  all  faces,  and  death  itself  be  destroyed  ;  and 
we  shall  reign  with  him  on  the  earth.  What  a  glorious  prospect!  What  a  blessed 
hope  !  How  full  of  immortality  and  eternal  life  !  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  0  come 
quickly." 

The  reader  may  perhaps  feel  some  curiosity,  to  learn  on 
what  sort  of  authority  such  a  prediction  is  thus  confidently 
announced  to  the  world. 

This  authority,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  is  found  substantially 
in  the  following  passage  from  the  prophecies  of  Daniel.  There 
may  be  some  other  circumstances,  viewed  as  collateral  evi- 
dence; but  it  is  on  the  following,  we  think,  that  the  author 
mainly  relies  for  the  support  of  his  theory  : 

"  And  he  said  unto  me,  Unto  two  thousand  and  three  hundred  days;  then 
shall  the  sanctuary  be  cleansed."     Dan.  viii.  14. 

The  reasoning  on  this  text  is  the  following  : 

1.  A  prophetical  day  is  equivalent  to  one  literal  year. 
Therefore,  the  whole  time  specified  in  the  text  is  2300  years. 

2.  The  commencement  of  these  2300  years  is  to  be  dated 
from  the  going  forth  of  the  command  to  rebuild  Jerusalem, 
which  took  place  in  the  7th  year  of  Artaxerxes  Longimanus. 
Beginning  at  this  point,  which  was  in  the  year  before  Christ 
457,  and  adding  to  this  last  number  the  whole  period  of  the 
Christian  era  to  1S43,  we  shall  have  the  exact  sum  of  2300 
years  :  in  other  words,  if  we  date  the  beginning  of  the  2300 
years  from  the  issuing  of  the  decree  to  rebuild  Jerusalem,  the 
period  will  expire  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1843;  at  which 

5 

- 


24  The  End  of  the  World  in  1843. 

time,  agreeably  to  the  prophecy,  the  sanctuary  shall  be 
cleansed.- 

3.  But  the  cleansing  of  the  sanctuary  is  only  another  form 
of  expression  to  denote  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man. 
Therefore,  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  to  raise  the  dead, 
to  destroy  the  wicked,  and  to  reign  in  righteousness,  will 
take  place  in  1S43. 

As  every  one  may  see,  there  are  but  three  things  needed 
to  moke  this  reasoning  conclusive:  first,  the  proof  that  the 
2300  days,  in  the  present  case,  denote  2300  literal  years  ; 
second,  the  proof  that  the  beginning  of  the  said  2300  years  is 
to  be  dated  from  the  going  iorth  of  the  command  to  rebuild- 
Jerusalem;  and  third,  the  proof  that  the  cleansing  of  the 
sanctuary,  and  the  coming  of  Christ  to  reign  personally  on 
earth,  are  but  one  and  the  same  thing. 

The  reader  will  wish  to  know,  of  course,  how  the  writer 
has  succeeded  in  making  out  these  several  items  of  proof — 
or  rather,  he  will  wish  to  see,  for  himself,  the  proof  that  has> 
been  adduced  in  favor  of  these  three  several  propositions. 

The  proof,  in  the  first  case,  rests  on  the  alleged  fact,  that, 
in  the  famous  prophecy  of  sevent}T  weeks,  490  prophetical 
daj's  are  reckoned  as  so  many  literal  years.  And,  as  this 
mode  of  reckoning  is  found  to  be  correct  in  relation  to  one 
prophecy,  it  is  presumed  that  the  same  will  be  correct,  when 
applied  to  any  other  prediction  by  the  same  author.  To  the 
p7'e$nmption,  in  this  case,  we  take  no  exception.  Although 
the  argument  in  itself  is  far  from  being  demonstrative,  which, 
in  fact,  it  ought  to  be,  to  justify  a  position  such  as  that  as- 
sumed by  Mr.  Miller — still,  all  things  considered,  we  esteem 
the  reasoning  plausible,  and  therefore  concede  the  point  that 
it  is,  at  least,  probable  that  the  2300  days,  in  the  present  case,, 
were  intended  to  denote  23C0  literal  Jewish  years. 

The  proof,  in  the  second  case,  namely,  that  the  2300  years 
are  to  be  counted  from  the  7th  of  Longimanus,  is  the  assump- 
tion, or  rather  the  assertion,  that  the  said  2300  years,  and  the 
seventy  weeks,  are  to  be  dated  from  one  and  the  same  event. 
And  hence  it  is  concluded,  that,  as  the  seventy  weeks  are  to> 
be  dated  from  the  7th  year  of  Longimanus,  the  2300  years- 
must  be  counted  from  the  same  epoch. 

How  far  the  foregoing  assumption  is  correct,  or  even- 
probable,  the  reader  can  easily  judge  from  the  following  facts  r 
In  the  third  yer.r  of  Bel&hazzar,  Daniel  had  his  famous  vision 
of  the  ram  and  he-goat,  \\  hich  seems  to  relate  specially  to 
the  time  of  giving,  u  both   the  sanctuary  and  the  host  to  be- 


The  End  of  the  World  in  1813.  35 

trodden  under  foot."  See  Daniel  8th  chapter,  and  particu- 
larly the  13th  and  14th  verses. ,  Of  this  vision,  let  it  be  ob- 
served, the  text  under  consideration  forms  a  part. 

In  the  first  year  of  Darius,  which,  with  the  consent  of  Mr. 
Miller  himself,  was  fifteen  years  after  the  last  mentioned  vi- 
sion, Daniel  had  another  vision  or  revelation,  in  which  Ga- 
briel appeared  to  him  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  his  mind, 
troubled  about  the  seventy  years  of  Jeremiah,  and  announced 
the  remarkable  prediction  of  the  seventy  weeks,  which  were 
to  be  accomplished  on  Jerusalem,  from  the  promulgation  of 
the  edict  of  Artaxerxes  Longimanus  to  the  death  of  the  Mes- 
siah.    See  Dan.  ix.  24,  25. 

But  why,  says  the  reader,  should  the  2  300  years  of  the 
former  vision,  and  the  seventy  weeks  of  the  latter,  be  dated 
from  one  and  the  same  period  ?  Because,  says  Mr.  Miller, 
the  two  are,  in  truth,  but  one  and  the  same  vision.  But  by 
what  rule  of  interpretation,  says  the  reader,  can  two  revela- 
tions, relating  to  entirely  different  subjects,  and  taking  place 
at  points  of  time  no  less  than  fifteen  years  apart,  be  consi- 
dered one  and  the  same  vision  ?  The  evidence  of  the  fact, 
says  Mr.  Miller,  is  to  be  found  in  the  circumstance,  that,  as 
the  latter  is  not  called  a  vision,  in  so  many  words,  the  ex- 
pression— '-'therefore  understand  the  matter  and  consider  the 
vision,"  must  of  necessity  relate  to  the  dream  and  vision  un- 
der Belshazzar. 

Now,  as  every  one  must  see,  if  it  were  even  proved  that 
the  2300  days  and  the  seventy  weeks,  formed  parts  of  one 
and  the  same  vision,  it  would  be  veryfar  from  certain  that 
they  were  to  be  counted  from  one  and  the  same  epoch.  But 
when  it  is  recollected  that  these  two  numbers  were  given  un- 
der entirely  different  circumstances — in  reference  to  entirely 
different  subjects — and  with  an  interval  of  no  less  than  fifteen 
years  between  them,  we  think  the  reader  will  agree  with  us, 
that  Mr.  Miller's  assumption,  respecting  the  identity  of  the 
two  visions,  and  the  date  of  the  two  numbers,  is  rather  hard 
of  belief. 

On  the  contrary,  if  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  passage,  Dan. 
ix.  23,  he  will  sec,  at  a  glance,  that  the  expression — "  there- 
fore understand  and  consider  the  vision" — instead  of  relating 
to  a  vision  that  had  been  seen  and  explained  fifteen  years  be- 
fore, related  obviously  and  necessarily  to  the  matter  then  to 
be  explained  and  understood,  namely,  the  matter  of  the  se- 
venty weeks,     Nothing,  we  arc  certain,  but  the  strongest 


36  The  End  of  the  World  in  1843. 

prejudice,  or  an  inveterate  propensity  to  carry  a  point,  can 
lead  to  any  other  conclusion. 

So  much  for  the  epoch  from  which  the  2300  years  are  to 
be  counted. 

We  now  come  to  consider  our  author's  third  position, 
namely,  that  the  cleansing  of  the  sanctiLary ',  and  the  com- 
ing of  Christ  to  judge  the  world,  are  expressions  used  to  de- 
note the  same  grand  events.  The  evidence  on  this  head 
consists  of  the  following  : 

Seven  separate  and  distinct  senses  are  enumerated  in  which 
the  term  sanctuary  is  used  in  the  Scriptures.  It  is  used  to 
denote  Jesus  Christ — Heaven — Judah — the  Temple  at  Jeru- 
salem— the  Holy  of  Holies — the  Earth — and  the  Saints. 
"Now,"  says  the  author,  "  which  of  these  sanctuaries  does 
Daniel  mean,  in  the  text  ?  Not  the  first,  Christ,  for  he  is  not 
impure.  Not  the  second,  Heaven,  for  that  is  not  unclean. 
Not  the  third,  Judah,  for  that  is  cut  off.  Not  the  fourth,  the 
temple,  for  that  is  destroyed.  Not  the  fifth,  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  for  that  is  destroyed  also.  There  are  but  two  things 
more  that  may  be  called  sanctuaries,  which  may  or  ever  will 
require  cleansing,  and  those  are  the  earth  and  the  church" 

Now  mark  the  reasoning  here :  It  cannot  be  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  nor  the  Holy  of  Holies,  because  they  are  destroy- 
ed. The  question  is  proposed  by  one  saint  to  another — 
"How  long  shall  be  the  vision  concerning  the  daily  sacrifice, 
and  the  transgression  of  desolation,  to  give  both  the  sanc- 
tuary and  the  host  to  be  trampled  under  foot  ?"  To  this 
question  the  answer  is  given — "Unto  two  thousand  three  hun- 
dred days — then  shall  the  sanctuary  be  cleansed."  That  is, 
if  this  language  has  any  meaning,  the  sanctuary  and  the  host, 
evidently  meaning  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  were,  by  the 
prophecy,  to  be  trodden  under  foot  for  the  space  of  2300 
days;  and  yet  the  sanctuary  cannot  be  cleansed  at  the  end  ot 
that  time,  because  it  is  destro3?ed ;  in  other  words,  because  it 
is  trodden  under  foot ! 

Mark  again — the  question,  as  has  been  seen,  respected  the 
desolation  of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple.  But  the  answer, 
says  Mr.  Miller,  relates  not  to  Jerusalem  and  its  restoration, 
but  to  the  earth,  and  the  church,  and  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  God  to  judge  the  world,  and  to  dwell  with  men  !  The 
only  reason  that  we  have  seen  assigned  for  this  singular  con- 
struction, is  the  alleged  fact,  as  before  stated,  that  the  temple 
is  destroyed,  and  therefore  can  in  no  sense  be  cleansed  ! 

That  the  question  related  to  the  desolation  of  the  temple  at 


The  End  of  the  World  in  1843.-  87 

Jerusalem,  is  fully  conceded  by  Mr.  Miller  himself.  "By 
sanctuary,"  says  he,  alluding  to  the  13th  verse,  "  we  must 
understand  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  and  those  who  worship 
therein,  which  was  trodden  under  foot  by  the  pagan  king- 
doms of  the  world,"  &c. — and  yet,  with  an  inconsistency 
which,  one  would  suppose,  could  not  fail  to  strike  every  one, 
he  gravel}^  maintains  ihat  the  cleansing  of  this  same  sanctuary, 
in  the  next  verse,  can  be  no  other  than  the  burning  up  of  the 
world,  and  the  establishment  of  the  personal  reign  of  Christ 
among  men  ! 

Such  is  the  reasoning — such  the  interpretation  of  prophecy 
— such  the  evidence,  by  which  Mr.  Miller  has  undertaken  to 
overthrow  the  views  of  those  who  have  gone  before  him,  and 
to  pledge,  not  only  his  own  reputation,  but  even  the  veracity 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  that  the  conflagration  of  the  earth 
and  the  day  of  reckoning  will  take  place  in  the  space  "  of  one 
short  year"  from  the  present  time  !  ! 

We  of  course  mean  nothing  disrespectful  to  Mr.  Miller. 
Mr.  Campbell  says,  he  believes  him  to  be  "  a  good  and  ex- 
emplary christian,"  and  one  who  sincerely  believes  all  he 
teaches.  We  know  nothing  to  the  contrary.  Much  less  do 
we  mean  any  thing  light  or  irreverent  with  regard  to  that 
most  affecting  article  of  the  Christian's  faith — the  coming  of 
Christ  to  judge  the  world.  But-we  must  be  allowed  to  say, 
that  we  look  on  Mr.  Miller's  prophecy,  placing  this  occur- 
rence in  1843,  as  one  of  the  grandest  humbugs  of  this  hum- 
buying  ag;e.  And  this,  in  our  view,  is  not  the  worst  feature 
in  this  proceeding.  Besides  introducing  a  mode  of  interpre- 
tation, calculated  to  mislead,  its  inevitable  tendency  must  be, 
to  bring  discredit  on  the  sacred  writings.  If  the  word  of 
God  has  been  so  strangely  written,  that  the  most  conflicting 
theories,  may  be  deduced  from  its  pages,  men  will  say,  who 
can  tell  what  is  truth  or  what  is  error?  And  if  the  event 
shall  prove,  as  it  unquestionably  must,  that  a  person  making 
uncommon  pretensions  to  knowledge  of  the  prophecies,  may 
be  entirely  mistaken  respecting  the  judgment  in  1843,  what 
certainty  can  there  be,  sinners  will  be  likely  to  enquire,  that 
the  day  of  judgment  will  come  at  all  ?  or,  indeed,  that  the 
Bible  is  by  any  means  what  it  professes  to  be?  Mr.  Miller 
will  have  the  consolation  of  knowing,  however,  that  he  is  not 
the  first  man  who  has  made  similar  pretensions,  and  yet  been 
confuted  by  the  result — nor  the  first  who  has  confidently  pre- 
dicted the  day  of  judgment,  and  yet  lived  to  see  and  confess 
his  delusion.  Editob. 


The  Laws  of  Conviction. 

THE  LAWS  OF  CONVICTION. 
It  would,  doubtless,  be  a  curious  speculation,  were  the 
thing  practicable,  to  observe  the  various  processes  by  which 
persons  of  different  capacities  arrive  at  the  attainment  of  their 
several  articles  of  belief- 
It  would,  no  doubt,  be  found  true,  that  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  society,  could  give  no  better  account  of  the  origin 
of  their  creed,  whether  in  religion,  morals,  philosophy,  or 
politics,  than  that  such  was  the  creed  of  their  fathers.  Their 
fathers  believed  thus  and  so;  and  for  that  reason  they  believe 
(he  same.  When  children,  they  took  it  for  granted  that  the 
views  of  their  parents  could  not  be  wrong,  and  their  impres- 
sions since  have  not  been  altered  nor  reconsidered.  In  short, 
their  opinions  were  implanted  in  infancy,  and  since  then  they 
have  only  waxed  stronger,  as  the  parties  have  grown  in  years 
and  in  self-confidence.  The  principle  of  operation  here  de- 
scribed, is  what  is  usually  called  "  the  prejudice  of  education." 
To  this  is  to  be  ascribed  a  large  proportion  of  the  sentiments 
of  mankind,  including  not  a  few  of  their  errors  and  absurdi- 
ties. That  such  can  form  no  safe  or  justifiable  data,  for  the 
support  of  opinions,  on  any  subject,  must  be  obvious  to  every 
person  who  will  give  the  subject  a  moment's  thought. 

Another  source  of  opinion  allied  to  this,  is  the  force  of  au- 
thority. Men  who  have  acquired  reputation  for  wisdom  and 
learning,  lay  down  their  views  with  confidence,  and  vindi- 
cate them  with  vehemence  and  perseverance.  And  hence 
those  who  mistake  assertion  for  argument,  and  vehemence 
for  proof,  are  exceedingly  liable  to  embrace  the  same  creed. 
Their  reasoning  on  the  subject,  if  indeed  they  reason  at  all, 
is  something  like  this:  Our  teachers  and  leaders  are  men  of 
wisdom  and  of  information.  Surely  they  ought  to  know 
what  is  truth  and  what  error  better  than  we.  We  can  there- 
fore trust  to  their  judgment  with  more  safety  than  we  can  to 
our  own.  We  will  accordingly  adopt  their  sentiments,  and 
espouse  their  cause.  This  is  what  is  sometimes  called,  in  the 
quaint  phraseology  of  the  day,  "  the  pinning  of  one  man's 
faith  to  another  man's  sleeve."  The  truth  is,  one  party  be- 
lieves certain  positions,  simply  because  another  party,  in  whom 
he  has  confidence,  or  for  whom  he  entertains  a  predilection, 
happens  to  believe  the  same.  That  this  is  a  very  question- 
able mode  of  forming  a  creed,  can  be  doubted  by  no  one  who 
is  not  a  believer  in  human  infallibility.  And  that  it  is  the 
great  means  of  fabricating  and  upholding  error,  is  known  to 
every  one  who  has  even  a  moderate  acquaintance  with  men 
and  things. 


The  Laws  of  Conviction,  39 

Another  source  of  opinion  among  men,  is  the  force  of  in- 
clination. Men  are  always  prone  to  believe  what  suits  them, 
and  to  disbelieve  what  suits  them  not.  Under  this  head  may- 
be classed  whatever  comes  under  the  influence  of  taste,  of  in- 
terest, of  party,  or  of  profession.  In  a  word,  men  believe  in 
certain  things  because  they  wish  them  to  be  true,  and  they 
disbelieve  in  other  things  because  they  wish  them  to  be  un- 
true. And  although  this  principle  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
potent  agents  in  the  formation  of  human  opinions,  yet  it  has 
unquestionably  the  least  claim  to  reason,  or  even  to  common 
sense.  How  exceedingly  simple,  and  how  dangerous  too,  to 
assent  to  a  proposition  merely  because  it  happens  to  be  agree- 
able to  us;  or  to  reject  it  merely  because  we  dislike  it! 

Another  source  of  opinion  not  less  fruitful  of  error,  is  what 
is  called  "  sophistry. "  This  is  a  form  of  reasoning  defective 
in  some  of  its  elements,  and  yet  so  plausible  in  its  exterior, 
that  it  is  almost  certain  to  mislead  the  unpractised  or  unwary 
inquirer.  It  may  consist  either  in  drawing  a  legitimate  con- 
clusion from  unsound  premises,  or  in  drawing  an  erroneous 
conclusion  from  premises  that  are  sound.  In  most  cases  the 
defect  is  not  readily  discovered,  and  may  therefore  be  easily 
passed  for  good  logic,  especially  with  such  as  are  not  versed! 
in  the  arts  of  argumentation.  This  principle  has  always  been 
a  fruitful  source  of  opinion,  of  error,  and  of  deception.  It  is 
had  in  great  demand  by  demagogues,  impostors,  and  errorists 
of  all  descriptions,  and  is  one  of  the  principal  means  employ- 
ed in  support  of  the  various  and  prevailing  crudities  of  the 
present  day. 

There  is  but  one  safe  or  correct  mode  of  forming  opinions 
on  any  subject,  and  that  consists  in  paying  due  attention  to 
the  evidence  involved  in  the  case  considered.  That  is,  whafe 
can  be  clearly  and  conclusively  proved  to  be  true,  ought  to- 
be  received  and  believed  as  such — all  else  ought  to  be  set 
aside  as  unfounded,  or  at  least  as  doubtful.  Nothing  should 
be  received  as  true,  nor  admitted  as  evidence  in  argument, 
except  what  has  first  undergone  the  test  of  scrupulous  exami- 
nation, and  been  fully  sustained  by  competent  proof. 

An  illustration  or  two  may  serve  to  make  our  meaning 
more  intelligible.  Those  who  have  given  any  attention  to 
mathematics,  are  aware  that  the  science  begins  with  a  few 
self-evident  propositions — that  is,  propositions,  the  truth  of 
which  is  so  obvious  that  it  cannot  be  doubted.  From  these, 
mathematicians  proceed  to  demonstrate  certain  propositions 
respecting  lines,  angles,  and  figures  of  various  forms.     These 


40  The  Laws  of  Conviction. 

points  being  all  made  certain,  they  apply  them  to  the  mea- 
surement ot'the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  even  to  the  compu- 
tation of  the  magnitudes,  distances,  and  motions  of  the  hea- 
venly bodies.  And  what  is  remarkable  about  this  process  is, 
that  truth  is  discernible  at  every  step — that  is,  that  every  step 
is  made  a  subject  of  demonstration,  before  it  can  be  used  as 
evidence  in  the  higher  stages  of  the  computation.  The  con- 
sequence is,  that  absolute  certainty  runs  throughout  the  entire 
process.  Nothing  that  is  doubtful,  or  speculative,  or  uncer- 
tain, can  be  received  as  truth,  or  admitted  into  the  calculation. 
Respecting  the  result,  therefore,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  It 
rests  on  the  basis  of  mathematical  demonstration. 

All  are  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  proceedings  in  the 
case  of  a  person  tried  for  murder,  or  for  any  other  similar 
offence.  The  question  to  be  settled  is — Is  the  charge  true  or 
false  ?  To  enable  the  jury  to  settle  this  question,  the  evi- 
dence in  the  case  is  submitted.  Great  care  is  taken  that  evi- 
dence of  the  right  sort  only  is  introduced.  After  this,  the 
evidence  is  sifted,  weighed,  analyzed,  and  summed  up.  The 
jury  are  then  dismissed  to  decide  the  question  according  to 
the  evidence.  Not  according  to  prejudice,  or  party,  or  in- 
clination, or  any  such  thing,  but  according  to  the  evidence  of 
the  prisoner's  innocence  or  guilt. 

In  both  the  foregoing  cases,  we  have  a  regular  process  of 
argumentation.  It  is  true,  we  have  more  certainty  in-  the 
former  case,  perhaps,  than  in  the  latter;  but  in  both,  the  pro- 
cess is  substantially  the  same.  In  both,  the  evidence  is  duly 
examined.  In  both,  it  is  submitted  to  the  understanding.  In 
both,  it  produces  conviction,  or  otherwise,  as  the  case  may, 
be.  And  in  both,  the  decision  or  conclusion  pronounced,  is 
pronounced  agreeably  to  the  amount  and  quality  of  the  evi- 
dence in  the  premises. 

Now  what  we  wish  to  have  understood  is,  that,  although 
we  cannot  expect  to  have  mathematical  certainty  on  every 
proposition  of  a  general  character;  and  although  we  do  not 
expect  all  the  formalities  of  a  judicial  proceeding  in  every 
case  in  which  the  mind  is  called  on  to  decide — still  we  do 
expect  that,  in  every  case,  the  evidence  shall  be  scrupulously 
collected  and  weighed — that,  in  every  case,  the  mind  shall 
free  itself  from  every  bias  opposed  to  the  truth — and  that 
every  proposition  shall  be  rejected  as  untrue,  or  set  aside  as 
doubtful,  which  is  not  sustained  by  clear  and  conclusive 
evidence. 

Now,  suppose  every  man  should  proceed  on  this  principle. 


Mr.  ICncqjp  and  Ids  Revivals.  41 

Suppose  every  article  of  his  creed  in  religion,  in  politics,  in 
philosophy,  in  ethics,  and  in  every  department  of  science  and 
of  literature,  should  be  submitted  to  a  rigid  examination,  and 
should  be  approved  or  rejected  according  to  the  evidence  in 
the  case,  what  an  immense  amount  of  matter  would  be  found 
on  hand,  in  nine  cases  out  often,  in  the  form  of  opinions,  &c. 
for  the  support  of  which  not  a  particle  of  legitimate  evidence 
could  be  found !  What  an  immense  amount  of  error  would  be 
found  to  have  been  cherished  as  truth,  which  could  have  no 
other  eSect  than  to  vitiate  the  taste,  encumber  the  judgment, 
darken  the  understanding,  pervert  the  principles,  and  mislead 
the  actions  !  What  an  immense  amount  of  labor  would  be 
necessary  to  free  the  mind  from  this  vast  accumulation  of 
intellectual  trash  !  After  the  operation,  how  small  a  measure 
of  the  pure  gold  of  truth  and  evidence  would  be  left !  And. 
yet  no  man  can  be  said  to  be  properly  qualified  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  knowledge,  with  any  tolerable  prospect  of  accu- 
racy and  success,  until  this  operation  shall  have  been  per- 
formed— until  he  shall  have  learned  how  to  reason  from 
evidence  and  proof,  and  shall  have  applied  the  principle 
aforesaid  to  the  cleansing  of  his  intellectual  store-house  from 
the  accumulated  lumber  of  years  gone  by. 

Editor. 


Mr.  KNAP?  AND  HIS  REVIVALS. 

There  is,  beyond  a  doubt,  something  remarkable  about  this  persdn  and  his 
doings.  We  have  long  since  learned  to  look  with  distrust  on  men  famed  for 
their  skill  in  getting  up  revivals  ;  and  especially  when  their  proceedings  involved 
measures  claiming  to  be  new.  We  never  have  been,  and,  we  presume,  never 
shall  be,  favorable  to  what  are  called  "  new  measures."  We  have  always  been, 
of  the  opinion,  that  the  science  of  turning  sinners  to  righteousness,  was  at  least 
as  well  understood  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  as  it  has  been  since, 
or  is  likely  to  be  in  any  subsequent  age  of  the  world.  And  hence  we  have  al- 
ways looked  with  doubting  on  any  set  of  measures,  for  the  conversion  of  men, 
claiming  to  be  an  improvement  on  the  primitive  and  apostolic  practice. 

How  far  the  foregoing  remarks  are  applicable  to  Mr.  Knapp  and  his  opera- 
tions, our  information  has  never  enabled  us  to  decide.  Much  has  been  written 
indeed  in  praise  of  his  uncommon  powers  and  performances — not  a  little  of 
which  has  tended  to  disgust  rather  than  edify — while  some  things  have  been 
published  by  his  enemies,  and  therefore  go  to  magnify  his  faults,  or  perhaps  to 
misrepresent  him  altogether.  But,  from  all  we  have  read  or  heard  tell  of  him, 
we  have  never  been  enabled  to  form  a  definite  opinion,  either  of  the  man  or  of 
his  modus  operandi. 

One  thing,  however,  has  seemed  to  be  indisputable  ;  and  that  is,  that  exten- 
6 


42  The  Perfect  Man. 

?ive  religious  excitements  have  attended  his'  efforts  at  almost  every  place  where- 
he  has  labored.  Respecting  the  precise  character  of  these  excitements,  we  have 
been  nearly  as  much  at  a  loss  as  we  have  been  respecting  other  points.  We 
know  that  they  h  ive  been  highly  approved  by  some  ;  while  they  have  been  dis- 
approved by  others,  perhaps  equally  pious  and  judicious  But  there  is  no  doubt 
with  us  that  powerful  and  extensive  excitements  have  prevailed  in  many  of  the 
plaees  where  Mr.  Knapp  has  labored.  This  fact  has  been  of  such  uniform  oc- 
currence, and,  in  the  nature  of  things,  is  calculated  to  have  so  important  a  bear- 
ing on  the  interests  of  religion  and  of  men,  that  it  is,  in  our  opinion,  entitled  to 
the  most  careful  examination.  As  every  one  must  see,  if  Mr.  Knapp's  ara 
genuine  revivals  of  religion,  it  concerns  us  all  to  be  apprised  of  the  fact.  It  con- 
cerns us  to  know,  too,  by  what  sort  of  instrumentality  they  are  effected,  and 
especially  whether  they  are  to  be  ascribed  to  a:iy  peculiarity  in  the  talents,  the 
piety,  the  measures,  or  in  any  of  the  proceedings  of  the  man.  Agreeably  to  a 
well  known  principle  in  philosophy,  similar  causes  will  produce  similar  effects. 
If,  accordingly,  there  be  connected  with  Mr.  Knapp's  labors  causes  of  conver- 
sion and  revival,  not  generally  put  in  force,  it  is  a  matter  of  the  first  importance 
that  the  fact  should  be  known.  In  a  word,  if  Mr.  Knapp  possesses  a  secret  for 
awakening  the  attention  of  men,  not  in  the  possession  of  ministers  in  general,  it 
is  of  consequence  that  this  secret  should  be  known  and  put  in  practice,  in  every 
part  of  Christendom.  For  ourselves,  at  least,  we  should  be  more  than  gratified 
!o  learn  something  more  definite  respecting  Mr.  Knapp's  style  of  preaching  and 
conducting  his  revivals,  and  especially  to  what  peculiarities,  in  either  or  both, 
his  extraordinary  success,  in  calling  attention  to  religion,  is  most  probably  attri- 
butable. We  would  therefore  take  occasion  to  say,  that  we  should  consider  it 
a  valuable  service  rendered  to  the  cause  of  religion,  if  some  of  our  friends  in  Bos- 
ton or  elsewhere,  would  furnish  such  an  analysis  of  Mr.  Knapp's  preaching — 
his  mode  of  conducting  worship — his  measures,  if  any  he  has — and,  in  short,, 
of  every  thing  material  connected  with  his  revivals,  as  would  enable  a  person 
residing  at  a  distance  to  form  an  adequate  conception  of  die  whole  matter.  We 
should  like  to  know  particularly,  whether  Mr.  K.  has  any  thing  peculiar  in  his 
manner  of  illustrating  and  enforcing  divine  truth.  We  should  be  pleased  to 
learn  aiso,  whether  he  has  any  '£  new  measures,"  and  if  he  has,  what  they  are. 
While  on  the  subject,  we  would  take  occasion  to  say,  that  we  should  be  gia- 
tified  if  Mr.  Knapp  could  make  it  suit  his  convenience  to  pay  us  a  visit  at  the 
South.  We  are  in  great  need  of  services  here,  such  as  he  has  rendered  in  Bos- 
ton anil  other  places,  and  should  be  more  than  pleased  to  form  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  bctli  himself  and  his  labors  of  love.  Editor.. 


THE  PERFECT  MAN. 

FROM    THE    GERMAN    UiLMANN. 

The  character  of  Jesus,  though  thoroughly  individual  and 
unlike  every  other,  has  yet  no  such  eccentric  or  peculiar  fea- 
ture, as  results  from  a  disproportional  comhination  of  the  in- 
ward faculties.     On  the  contrary,  there  is  in  the  nature  the 


Tlie  Perfect  Man.  43 

most  perfect  harmony  and  completeness ;  and  his  acts  beat 
the  stamp  of  universal  propriety  and  rectitude.  Who  can  say, 
that  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  Jesus  was  soundness  of 
judgment,  or  tenderness  of  feeling,  or  richness  of  fancy,  or 
power  of  execution  ?  But  all  these  excellencies  are  found  in 
him,  just  in  their  due  proportion,  and  they  work  together  in 
uninterrupted  harmony.  High  fervor  and  gracious  mildness; 
heavenly  serenity  and  absorbing  sadness;  elevation  above 
earthly  pleasure  and  conditions,  and  a  pure,  cheerful  enjoy- 
ment of  the  same;  regal  dignity  and  self-denying  humble- 
ness ;  vehement  hatred  toward  sin,  and  affectionate  forbear- 
ance toward  the  sinner — all  these  qualities  are  combined  in 
his  nature  in  one  inseparable  whole,  in  the  most  perfect  sub- 
ordination. Never  was  Jesus  driven  out  of  his  own  path; 
it  was  a  quiet  path,  and  always  even.  All  the  manifesta- 
tions of  spiritual  life  have  one  great  aim  ;  his  whole  character 
has  a  unity  that  is  perfect,  complete  within  itself. 

It  is  indeed  true,  as  a  saint  who  knew  Christianity  from 
the  life,  once  said  in  his  heart-winning  way,  "  One  might  well 
consent  to  be  branded  and  broken  on  the  wheel,  merely  for 
the  idea  of  such  a  character  as  Christ's;  and  if  any  one  should 
be  able  to  mock  and  deride,  he  must  be  insane.  Every  man, 
whose  heart  is  in  the  right  state,  will  lie  in  the  dust,  and  re- 
joice, and  adore."  It  is  true;  even  as  a  bare  idea,  the  spiri- 
tual image  of  Jesus  which  the  Bible  holds  out  to  us,  is  the 
most  dignified  and  the  most  precious  which  is  known  to  our 
-race.  It  is  an  idea,  for  which  one  may  well  be  justified  in 
offering  up  his  life.  For,  we  may  boldly  assert,  this  idea  is 
•the  most  sublime  to  which,  in  the  province  of  morality  and 
religion,  the  human  mind  has  been  raised.  It  is  the  jewel  of 
humanity,  and  whoever  knowingly  tarnishes  or  disfigures  it, 
commits  an  outrage  against  the  majesty  of  the  heaven-born 
soul  of  man,  in  its  most  beauteous  manifestations.  Let  it  be 
a  fable,  it  is  still  the  most  noble  truth  which  has  been  either 
received  or  communicated  by  the  human  mind,  and  prepon- 
derates, even  as  a  fable,  over  a  thousand  varieties  of  ordinary 
experience.  But  it  is  not  a  fable;  it  is  not  a  bare  idea;  for 
the  man  who  was  able  to  produce,  from  his  own  invention, 
such  a  character,  such  a  pattern,  must  himself  have  possessed 
this  greatness  of  soul,  if  we  deny  that  he  observed  it  in  ano- 
ther. We  must  transfer  the  spiritual  and  moral  greatness  of 
Jesus  to  his  biographer,  if  we  deny  it  to  himself.  If  we 
glance  at  the  greatest  characters  which  have  been  exquisitely 
pourtrayed  to  us  by  the  creative  power  and  art  of  the  most 
gifted  poets,  do  wc  find  in  these  characters  anything  like  that 


44  How  to  Promote  Peace, 

which  is  developed  in  Jesus?  And  these  plain,  uncultivated 
Jewish  evangelists,  they  forsooth  were  able  to  invent  it  ! 
How  far,  as  an  unaided  man,  did  each  of  these  writers  of 
Memorabilia  stand  below  Zenophon  and  Plato;  and  yet  how- 
high,  in  its  silent  majesty,  stands  the  simple  image  of  Jesus, 
which  the  unlettered  evangelist  presents,  above  the  character 
that  is  given  to  the  wisest  Greeks,  by  the  two  masters  of 
language  and  rhetoric. 


One  of  the  most  striking  arguments  in  favor  of  Christianity,  is  the  remarkable 
correspondence  which  is  found  to  exist  between  its  doctrines  and  the  philosophy 
of  human  nature.  Inconsequence  of  this  circumstance,  it  is  found  that  many 
of  the  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  arc  not  more  sound  in  morals  than  they 
are  true  in  philosophy,  and  successful  in  practice.  What,  for  example,  is  so 
much  calculated  to  assuage  the  troubled  waters  of  human  strife,  to  subdue  the 
rage  of  the  fiercest  resentment,  and  even  to  transform  an  enemy  into  a  friend, 
as  that  simple  precept  of  the  Apostle,  "  Overcome  evil  with  good."  Of  the 
successful  operation  of  this  principle,  in  subduing  the.  ferocity  of  human  passion, 
the  following  narrative  furnishes  a  fine  illustration  : 


W  TO  PROMOTE  PEACE. 

A  recent  number  of  the  Democratic  Review  contains  the 
following  anecdote,  illustrating  the  character  of  the  late  Wil- 
liam JLadd,  President  of  the  American  Peace  Society,  a  man 
who  by  the  influence  of  peace  principles  became  gentle  heart- 
ed, and  a  pattern  in  meekness. 

A  story  which  he  often  told  with  peculiar  relish,  will  illustrate 
this  moulding  of  his  character — the  gradual  progress  of  his  mint! 
in  adopting  peace  principles.  "I  had,"  said  he,  "  a  line  held  of 
grain,  growing  upon  an  out-farm  some  distance  from  the  home- 
stead. Whenever  I  rode  by,  I  saw  my  neighbor  Pulsifer's  sheep 
in  the  lot,  destroying  my  hopes  of  a  harvest. — These  sheep 
were  of  the  gaunt,  long-legged  kind,  active  as  spaniels  ;  they  could 
spring  over  the  highest  fence,  and  no  partition  wall  could  keep 
hem  out.  I  complained  to  neighbor  Pulsi.fer  about  them,  sent  him 
frequent  messages,  but  all  without  avail.  Perhaps  they  would 
be  kept  out  for  a  day  or  two,  but  tiie  legs  of  the  sheep  were 
long,  and  my  grain  rather  more  tempting  than  the  adjoining  pas- 
ture. I  rode  by  again;  the  sheep  were  still  there;  I  became 
angry,  and  told  my  men  to  set  the  dogs  on  them,  and  if  that  did 
not  do,  I  would  pay  them  if  they  would  shoot  the  sheep. 

1  rode  away  much  agitated,  for  I  was  not  so  much  of  a  Peace 
man  then  as  I  am  now,  and  I  felt,  literally,  full  of  fight.  All  at 
once  a  light  Hashed  in  upon  me.  I  asked  myself,  would  it  not  be 
well  for  you  to  try  in  your  own  conduct  the  Peace  principles  you 


Curious  fact  in  Astronomy. 


45 


are  preaching  to  others  !  I  thought  it  all  over,  and  settled  down 
in  my  mind  as  to  the  best  course  to  be  pursued. 

The  next  day  I  rode  over  to  see  neighbor  Pulsifer.  I  found 
him  chopping  wood  at  his  door.  "  Good  morning,  neighbor." 
No  answer.  "  Good  morning,"  I  repeated.  He  gave  a  kind  of 
grunt,  like  a  hog,  without  looking  up.  "  I  came,"  continued  I, 
*'  to  see  you  about  the  sheep."  At  this  he  threw  down  his  axe, 
and  exclaimed  in  a  most  angry  manner,  fl  Now  aren't  you  a  pretty 
neighbor,  to  tell  your  men  to  kill  my  sheep  !  I  heard  of  it — a  rich 
man  like  you  to  shoot  a  poor  man's  sheep  !" 

"  I  was  wrong,  neighbor,"  said  I :  "  but  it  won't  do  to  let  your 
sheep  eat  up  all  that  grain  ;  so  I  came  over  to  say  that  I  would 
take  your  sheep  to  my  homestead  pasture,  and  put  them  in  with 
mine,  and  in  the  fall  you  may  take  them  back,  and  if  any  one  is 
missing,  you  may  take  your  pick  out  of  my  whole  flock." 

Pulsifer  looked  confounded — he  did  not  know  how  to  take  me. 
At  last  he  stammered  out,  "  Now,  Squire,  are  you  in  earnest?" 
•'  Certainly  I  am,"  I  answered  ;  "  it  is  better  for  me  to  feed  your 
sheep  in  my  pasture  on  grass,  than  to  feed  them  here  on  grain  ; 
and  I  see  the  fence  can't  keep  them  out." 

After  a  moment's  silence — "  The  sheep  shan't  trouble  you  any 
more."  exclaimed  Pulsifer.  "  I  will  fetter  them  all.  But  I'll  let 
you  know  that  when  any  man  talks  of  shooting;,  1  can  shoot  too  ; 
and  when  they  are  kind  and  neighborly,  I  can  be  kind  too."-- 
The  sheep  never  again  trespassed  on  my  lot.  ''And  my  friends," 
he  would  continue,  addressing  the  audience,  "  remember  that  when 
you  talk  of  injuring  your  neighbors,  they  talk  of  injuring  you. 
When  nations  threaten  to  fight,  other  nations  will  be  ready  too. 
Love  will  beget  love  ;  a  wish  to  be  at  peace  will  keep  you  in 
peace.  You  can  only  overcome  evil  with  good,  there  is  no  other 
way." 


A  CURIOUS  FACT  IN  ASTRONOMY. 
We  state  the  following  on  the  authority  of  M.  Arngo,  the 
eminent  French   astronomer.     If  we  place,  in   a   horizontal 
line,  a    series  of  figures,  of  which  the  law  is  evident,  each 
doubling  the  preceding: 

0  3  6  12  24  48  96  192 

— and  afterwards  add  four  to  each,  we  should  have  a  scries 
denoting  the  relative  distances  of  the  planets  from  the  sun. 
Thus  :— 

4  7  10  16  28  52  100  196 

Mercury,  Venus,  Earth,  Mars,  Jupiter,  Saturn,  Uranus. 

If  10  represents  the  distance  of  the  Earth,  4  will  be  that  of 
Mercury,  7  Venus,   16  Mars,  and  52,  100,  and  196,  the  re- 


4G  Morals  of  Popery. 

spective  distances  of  Jupiter,  Saturn,  and  Uranus.  This  law 
was  known  as  far  as  100  before  the  discover}7  of  Uranus  ;  and 
the  distance  of  that  planet  being  found  to  correspond,  affords 
a  very  remarkable  confirmation  of  its  truth.  But  it  will  be 
observed,  that  there  will  be  a  deficiency  of  one  term  between 
Mars  and  Jupiter,  at  the  proportional  distance  of  2S  from  the 
Sun.  At  this  point  a  small  planet  was  some  time  since  dis- 
covered. This  planet  was  named  Ceres;  and  since,  three 
others  have  been  found — Pallas,  Juno,  and  Vesta;  all  of 
which  have  their  orbits  so  near  each  other,  as  to  lead  astro- 
nomers to  believe  that  they  are  fragments  of  a  larger  planet, 
which  had  been  shattered  to  pieces  by  some  internal  explo- 
sion; or  the  shock  of  a  cornet. 


From  D'Aubigtie's  History; 
MORALS  OF  POPERY  BEFORE  THE  REFORMATION. 

What  a  spectacle  was  presented  by  the  Pontifical  Throne 
in  the  generation  immediately  preceding  the  Reformation  ! 
Home,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  has  seldom  been  witness  to 
so  much  infamy. 

Ilodriga  Borgia,  after  living  in  illicit  intercourse  with  a 
Roman  lady,  had  continued  a  similar  connection  with  one  of 
her  daughters,  by  name  Rosa  Vanozza,  by  whom  he  had  five 
children.  He  was  living  at  Rome  with  Vanozza,  and  other 
abandoned  women — as  cardinal  and  archbishop,  visiting  the 
churches  and  hospitals — when  the  death  of  Innocent  VIII. 
created  a  vacancy  in  ihe  Pontifical  chair.  He  succeeded  in 
(obtaining  it  by  bribing  each  of  the  cardinals  at  a  stipulated 
price.  Four  mules,  laden  with  silver,  were  publicly  driven 
into  the  palace  of  Sforza,  the  most  influential  of  the  cardinals. 
Borgia  became  Pope  under  the  name  of  Alexander  VI.,  and 
rejoiced  in  the  attainment  of  the  pinnacle  of  pleasures. 

The  very  day  of  his  coronation  he  created  his  son,  Csesar, 
a  ferocious  and  dissolute  youth,  archbishop  of  Valencia,  and 
bishop  of  Pampcluna.  He  next  proceeded  to  celebrate  in  the 
Vatican  Ihe  marriage  of  his  daughter  Lucrezia,  by  festivities, 
at  which  his  mistress  Julia  Bella  was  present,  and  which  were 
enlivened  by  farces  and  indecent  song.  "  Most  of  the  eccle- 
siastics," says  a  historian,  "had  their  mistresses,  and  all  the 
convents  of  the  capital  were  houses  of  ill  fame."  Caesar 
Borgia  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Guelphs,  and  when  by  their 
assistance  he  had  annihilated  the  power  of  the  Ghibelines,  he 
turned  upon  the  Guc!ph«,  and  crushed   them  in  their  turn. 


Morals  of  Toper y.  4.1 

But  he  would  allow  none  to  share  in  the  spoils  of  his  atroci- 
ties. In  the  year  1497,  Alexander  conferred  upon  his  eldest 
son  the  duchy  of  Benevento.  The  duke  suddenly  disappear- 
ed. That  night  a  faggot-dealer  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber, 
saw  some  person  throw  a  corpse  into  the  river — but  he  said 
nothing  of  it,  for  such  things  were  common.  The  duke's 
body  was  found.  His  brother  Caesar  had  been  the  instigator 
of  the  murder.  He  did  not  stop  here.  His  brother-in-law 
stood  in  the  way  of  his  ambition.  One  day  Caesar  caused  him 
to  be  stabbed  on  the  staircase  of  the  Pope's  palace,  and  he 
was  carried,  covered  with  blood,  to  his  own  apartments.  His 
wife  and  sister  never  left  him.  Dreading  lest  Caesar  should 
employ  poison,  they  were  accustomed  to  prepare  his  meals 
with  their  own  hands.  Alexander  placed  guards  before  his 
door — but  Caesar  ridiculed  these  precautions,  and  on  one  oc- 
casion, when  the  Pope  visited  him,  dropped  the  remark — 
u  What  cannot  be  done  at  dinnek  may  be  at  supper."  Ac- 
cordingly, he  one  day  gained  admittance  to  the  chamber  of 
the  wounded  man;  turned  out  his  wife  and  sister,  and  calling 
Michilotto,  the  executioner  of  his  horrors,  and  the  only  man 
in  whom  he  placed  any  kind  of  confidence,  commanded  him 
to  strangle  his  victim  before  his  eyes.  Alexander  had  a  fa- 
vorite named  Peroto,  whose  preferment  offended  the  young 
duke.  Caesar  rushed  upon  him.  Peroto  sought  refuge  un- 
der the  Papal  mantle,  clasping  the  Pontiff  in  his  arms.  Caesar 
stabbed  him,  and  the  blood  of  the  victim  squirted  in  the  Pon- 
tiff's face.  "The  Pope,"  adds  a  cotemporary,  and  witness 
of  these  atrocities,  "  loves  the  duke  his  son,  and  lives  in  great 
fear  of  him."  Caesar  was  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most 
powerful  men  of  his  age.  Six  wild  bulls  fell  beneath  his 
hand  in  single  combat.  Nightly  assassinations  took  place  in 
the  streets  of  Home.  Poison  often  destroyed  those  whom 
the  dagger  could  not  reach.  Every  one  feared  to  move  or 
breathe,  lest  he  should  be  the  next  victim.  Caesar  Borgia 
was  the  hero  of  crime.  The  spot  on  earth  where  all  iniquity 
met  and  overflowed  was  the  Pontiff's  seat.  When  man  has 
given  himself  over  to  the  power  of  evil,  the  higher  his  pre- 
tensions before  God,  the  lower  he  is  seen  to  sink  in  the 
depths  of  hell.  The  dissolute  entertainments  given  by  the 
Pope  and  his  son,  Caesar,  and  his  daughter  Lucrezia,  are  such 
as  can  neither  be  described  nor  thought  of.  The  most  im- 
pure groves  of  ancient  worship  saw  not  the  like.  Historians 
have  accused  Alexander  and  Lucrezia  of  incest,  but  the  charge 
is   not  sufficiently    established.     The  Pope,  in  order  to  rid 


43 


General  Hides  of  Conduct. 


himself  of  a  wealthy  cardinal,  had  prepared  poison  in  a  small 
box  of  sweetmeats,  which  was  to  be  placed  on  the.  table  after 
a  sumptuous  feast:  the  Cardinal,  receiving  a  hint  of  the  de- 
sign, gained  over  the  attendant,  and  the  poisoned  box  was 
placed  before  Alexander.  lie  ate  of  it  and  perished.  The 
whole  city  came  together,  and  could  hardly  satiate  themselves 
with  the  sight  of  this  dead  viper. 

Such  was  the  man  who_  filled  the  pontifical  throne  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Reformation. 


GENERAL  RULES  OF  CONDUCT. 

1.  Never  make  the  forms  of  religion  in  others  the  subject 
of  ridicule.  True  religious  feelings  may  be  expressed  in  dif- 
ferent forms,  and  come  with  acceptance  before  Gcd.  The 
form  is  very  much  a  subject  of  education  or  habit — the  mere 
language  of  the  heart.  "  What  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat,  saith 
the  .Lord  ?  "' 

2.  Never  mod:  at  the  infirmities  of  others:  rather  let  them 
excite  your  commiseration  and  gratitude.  Who  made  you  to 
differ?  Dereliction  of  duty,  not  misfortune,  constitutes 
crime. 

3.  Never  exult  over  the  misfortunes  of  others,  net  even 
your  enemies.  Rejoice  in  the  triumphs  of  justice,  but  retain 
your  pit}"  for  the  meanest  sinner.  Is  he  not  a  man,  and  still 
susceptible  of  reformation  ?  Roes  not  God  bear  with  him. 
And  should  not  we  ? 

4.  Envy  not  others  their  prosperity-.  This  is  the  mark 
of  a  little  mind.  When  we  fail  of  I'm  objects  we  aim  at,  we 
should  rejoice  at  the  success  of  others. 

5.  Let  your  aims  be  high  :  this  will  excite  to  effort. 

6.  Be  moderate  in  your  expectations:  this  will  prepare 
yen  for  defeat. 

7.  Never  despair.  How  often  has  the  last  struggle  brought 
relief,  li  there  be  but  one  chance  of  success  in  a  thousand, 
it  is  worth  a  thousand  times  too  much  to  be  thrown  away. 

8.  Consider  how  many  are  less  favored  than  you  are.  If 
you  cannot  gain  the  heights,  be  satisfied  with  a  mediocrity, 
which  is  always  the  safest,  less  subject  to  changes,  and  of 
more  equal  temperature. 

9.  Bear  yourself  humbly  in  prosperity.  A  proud  spirit  is 
the  product  of  native  meanness. 

10.  Maintain  a  thankful  temper.  "  What  hast  thou,  which 
thou  hast  not  received?"-'1 


Remarkable  Meteoric  Appearance.  49 

11.  Cultivate  a  cheerful  temper.  It  will  be  like  the  meri- 
dian sun  to  the  soul.  Objects  receive  their  complexion  from 
the  medium  through  which  we  perceive  them.  Mountains 
rise  to  an  unreal  height  in  the  darkness.  The  diamond  bor- 
rows a  thousand  new  brilliants  from  the  sunbeam.  So  ad- 
versity bears  wiih  less  oppression,  and  mercies  shine  more 
brightly,  on  a  thankful  and  cheerful  man.  "  A  cheerful 
temper  is  the  clear  blue  sky  of  the  soul." 

12.  Cherish  the  conviction  of  an  overruling  Providence. 
This  will  correct  a  capricious  temper.  The  race  is  not  al- 
ways to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong,  nor  riches  to 
men  of  understanding.  Time  and  chance  happen  to  all.  The 
lot  is  cast  in  the  lap,  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is  of  the 
Lord.  He  is  our  common  Father — and  like  as  a  father  piti- 
eth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him.— 
Would  we  learn  his  will,  we  must  study  the  lessons  of  his 
providence  as  well  as  of  his  word. 


UEMARKAULE    METEOIMC  APPEARANCE. 

From  the  earliest  times  luminous  bodies  have  been  seen  in  the  air,  of  vari« 
ous  magnitudes,  motions,  and  aspects.  They  have  differed  in  size,  from  the 
dimensions  of  the  smallest  taper,  to  those  of  bodies  of  several  feet  in  diameter. 
Their  motion  has  generally  been  rapid,  and  in  a  line  inclining  to  the  earth. 
Their  general  appearance  has  been  that  of  a  body  in  a  state  of  combustion, 
having  a  nucleus  or  head  in  front,  and  leaving  a  train  or  tail  of  flame  behind. 
Their  light  has  been  proportional  to  their  size,  varying  from  the  glow  of  the 
evening  fire-fly  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  sun  at  noon.  The  larger  sort  have  been 
generally  attended  by  an  explosion,  accompanied  with  a  loud  noise,  and  suc- 
ceeded by  the  falling  of  fragments  of  slate.  A  stone  was^thus  precipitated,  a 
few  years  ago,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  which  is  said  to  have  exceeded  a 
ton  in  weight,  and  which  buried  itself  several  feet  in  the  earth. 

Of  these  remarkable  phenomena  no  satisfactory  solution  has  as  yet  been  given. 
The  prevailing,  and  perhaps  the  most  probable  conjecture  is,  that  they  consist  of 
combinations  of  inflammable  gases,  incidentally  formed  in  the  higher  regions  of 
the  atmosphere,  and  ignited  and  exploded  by  electricity.  And  although  this 
hypothesis  does  not  account  for  all  the  phenomena  witnessed  on  such  occasions, 
still  it  is  perhaps  the  most  plausible,  and  therefore  the  best,  that  the  present 
stale  of  the  science  will  afford. 

The  foregoing  remarks  have  been  suggested  by  an  account  we  see  in  the 
papers,  of  the  recent  appearance  of  a  meteor  of  a  remarkable  character,  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York'.  The  following  extract,  taken  origi- 
nally from  the  Westfield  Messenger  of  April  13th,  will  be  read  with  interest  by 
all  who  are  cuiious  about  such  matters  : 

7 


50  Remarkable  Meteoric  Jlppearanee: 

Postscript. — Since  writing  ihe  above,  we  have  conversed 
with  Mr.  Horace  Palmer,  who  was  on  his  way  from  Dunkirk 
to  this  place,  when  the  meteor  appeared.  He  was  two  or 
three  miles  from  Dunkirk,  when  he  appeared  to  be  instantly- 
surrounded  with  a  most  painfully  vivid  light,  proceeding  from 
amass  of  fluid  or  jelly  like  substance,  which  fell  around  and 
upon  him,p  roducing  a  sulphureous  smell,  a  great  difficulty  ©f 
breathing,  and  a  feeling  of  faintness,  with  a  strong  sensation 
©f  heat.  As  soon  as  he  could  recover  from  his  astonishment, 
he  perceived  the  body  of  the  meteor  passing  above  him,  seem- 
ing to  be  about  a  mile  high.  It  then  appeared  to  be  in  diam- 
eter about  the  size  of  a  large  steamboat  pipe,  near  a  mile  in 
length!  Ds  dimensions  varied  soon;  becoming  first  much 
broader,  and  waning  away  in  diameter  and  length,  until  the 
former  was  reduced  to  about  eight  inches,  and  the  latter  a 
fourth  of  a  mile,  when  it  separated  into  pieces,  which  fell  to 
the  earth,  and  almost  immediately  he  heard  the  explosion, 
which,  he  says,  was  tremendous.  On  arriving  here  in  the 
morning,  his  face  had  every  appearance  of  having  been  se- 
verely scorched;  his  eyes  were  much  affected,  and  he  did  not 
recover  from  the  shock  it  gave  his  system  for  two  or  three 
days.  This  is  really  a  marvellous  story;  but  Mr.  Palmer  is 
a  temperate  and  industrious  man,  and  a  man  of  integrity  : 
and,  we  believe,  any  one  conversing  with  him  on  the  subject, 
would  be  satisfied  that  he  intends  no  deception,  but  describes 
the  scene,  as  nearly  as  possible,  as  it  actually  appeared.  Prob- 
ably, however,  his  agitation  at  his  sudden  introduction  to  such 
a  scene,  caused  the  meteor  to  be  somewhat  magnified  to  him. 
Witnesses  here  speak  of  the  sparks  which  were  given  off; 
probably  one  of  those  sparks  fell  and  enveloped  Mr.  Palmes. 
In  addition  to  its  light,  Mr.  Palmer  states,  that  its  passage  was 
accompanied  by  a  sound  like  that  of  a  car  moving  on  a  rail- 
road, only  louder. 

At  Salem,  an  observer  stated  the  meteor  to  be  "as  large  as 
a  house" — rather  indefinite,  but  proving  it  to  have  been  one 
of  extraordinary  magnitude.  It  was  noticed  at  N.  E.  Water- 
ford  and  Sugar  Grove,  Pa. ;  Harmony,  Chautouque,  and  other 
towns  in  this  county.  The  report  was  heard  also  at  Buffalo. 
In  Chautauque,  an  observer  describes  it  as  six  or  eight  inches 
in  diameter,  and  half  a  mile  long. 

We  learn,  also,  that  it  burst  about  three  miles  beyond  Fre- 
donia,  or  about  eighteen  miles  from  this  place.  The  report 
Is,  that  a  fragment  has  been  found,  a  foot  or  more  in  diame- 
ter, but  we  know  not  the  original  authority  of  the  statement. 


Form  of  Church  Government.  5i 

If  it  did  burst  where  it  is  represented  to  have  done,  and  it 
was  seen  here  until  it  exploded,  its  elevation  must  have  been 
about  35  miles.  This  is  pretty  low  in  comparison  with  most 
of  them,  but  it  would  seem,  from  the  account  of  Mr.  Palmer, 
that  it  was  much  lower  still.  Perhaps  it  was  not  observed 
here  as  long  as  it  might  have  been  from  good  points  of  vision. 
Its  course  is  represented  by  all  to  have  been  north  easterly. 

In  copying  the  account,  the  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser 
saj'S— "  At  Erie  and  at  Rochester,  places  about  150  miles 
apart  in  a  straight  line,  the  light  was  nearly  as  vivid  as  that 
of  day.  This  shows  the  immense  magnitude  and  great  height 
of  the  meteor." 


No.  II. 
FORM  OF  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

In  my  last  number  I  briefly  considered  the  elements  and 
constitution  of  a  Christian  Church,  agreeably  to  the  primitive 
model  :  in  the  present,  the  form  of  Church  Government  will 
claim  attention. 

The  principles  of  government  on  which  the  primitive 
churches  were  organized,  were  manifestly  those  of  a  demo- 
cracy— that  is,  those  which  vested  the  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  people.  The  members  were  constitutionally  equal  in 
rank,  in  privilege,  and  in  power.  Of  course,  all  authority  re- 
sided originally  and  by  right  with  them  As  a  part  of  this 
system,  every  church  was  a  perfectly  free  and  independent 
community,  making  its  own  laws,  choosing  its  own  officers, 
exercising  its  own  discipline,  and  providing  for  its  own  wants 
and  interests.  Such  was  evidently  the  church  at  Antioch ; 
such  was  the  church  at  Jerusalem  ;  and  such,  it  is  believed, 
were  all  the  churches  of  apostolic  origin. 

That  the  churches  of  primitive  times  were  modelled  on  the 
principles  aforesaid — that  they  exercised  the  right  and  power 
of  self-government — and  that  they  were,  in  every  proper 
sense  of  the  expression,  free  and  independent  communities, 
is  apparent  from  the  following  facts  : — When  the  vacancy  in 
the  apostleship,  occasioned  by  the  defection  of  Judas  Iscariot, 
was  to  be  fdled,  the  two  candidates  were  selected,  not  by  the 
eleven  apostles,  as  might  have  been  supposed,  but  by  the 
whole  church,  the  whole  company  of  the  disciples  in  full  as- 
sembly met.  See  Acts  i.  15 — 23.  When  the  seven  deacons 
were  to  be  appointed  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  they  were 
.ckosen,  not  by  the  apostles,  nor   by  the  bishops,  nor  by  any 


52  Form  of  Church  Government. 

others  in  authority,  but  by  the  "  whole  multitude  of  the  dis- 
ciples/' whom  the  apostles  had  called  together  for  the  pur- 
pose. Sec  Acts  vi.  2 — 5.  When  deputies  were  to  be  sent, 
by  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  to  assist  in  allaying  the  dissen- 
tions  at  Antioch,  which  had  arisen  on  the  question  of  circum- 
cision, the  said  deputies  were  chosen,  not  by  the  apostles  and 
ciders  aleac,  but  by  the  apostles  and  elders  in  connexion  with 
the  whole  church.  See  Acts  xv.  22.  When  an  offending 
member  was  to  be  disciplined,  agreeably  to  the  instructions 
of  Christ,  he  was  to  be  brought,  not  before  the  session,  the 
deacons,  the  elders,  the  bishops,  nor  even  before  the  apostles, 
but  before  "  the  church."  Matth.  xviii.  17,  IS.  When  the 
fornicator  was  to  be  excluded  from  the  church  at  Corinth,  it 
was  to  be  done,  agreeably  to  apostolic  injunction,  not  by  any 
person  or  party  in  authority,  but  by  the  church  "  when  ga- 
thered together,"  or  when  fully  and  regularly  convened  for 
the  purpose.     1  Cor.  v.  4. 

The  testimony  of  Dr.  Mosheim,  whose  authority  is  inferior 
to  that  of  no  other  historian,  and  who  will  not  be  likely  to  be 
suspected  of  partiality  on  this  point,  is  quite  worthy  of  atten- 
tion :  "  In  those  early  times  every  christian  church  consisted 
of  the  people,  their  leaders,  and  the  ministers  or  deacons,  and 
these  indeed  belong  essentially  to  every  religious  society. 
The  people  were,  undoubtedly,  the  first  in  authority,  for  the 
apostles  showed,  by  their  own  example,  that  nothing  of  mo- 
ment was  to  be  carried  on  or  determined  without  the  consent 
of  the  assembly  ;  and  such  a  method  of  proceeding  was  both 
prudent  and  necessary  in  those  critical  times."  Mos.  Ec. 
His.  cen.  1,  part  2,  chap.  2. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  from  the  foregoing,  that  I  mean 
to  dispense  with  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  head  of  the 
church.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  enacted  the  constitutional 
law  of  his  empire,  and  this  law  is  on  record  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. To  this  law  every  church  is  bound  to  yield  an  ab- 
solute and  implicit  obedience.  The  liberty  and  independence 
of  the  churches  consist,  therefore,  not  in  disannulling  nor  con- 
travening the  laws  of  the  New  Testament,  but  in  carrying 
out  a  course  of  policy  which  shall  be  strictly  conformable 
thereto  ;  not  in  setting  aside  or  withstanding  the  authority  of 
Jesus  Christ,  her  King,  but  in  yielding  a  full  and  free  obedi- 
ence to  all  his  requirements.  In  short,  it  is  incumbent  on 
the  churches  to  enact  and  execute  such  laws,  and  to  carry  on 
puch  proceedings,  as  shall  be  judged  right  and  proper,  pro* 
vided  always  that  they  shall  not  conflict  with  the  fundamei  - 


Form  of  Church  Government,  53 

tal  legislation  of  the  New  Testament.  But  the  moment  that 
such  a  conflict  commences,  the  proceeding  becomes  unconsti- 
tutional, and  may  be  justly  resisted  as  unauthorised  and  in- 
valid. 

Nor  is  it  to  be  understood  from  what  is  stated  above,  that 
I  mean  to  set  aside  or  depreciate  the  powers  of  those  in  au- 
thority. The  freedom  and  equality  of  the  members  of  a 
church,  like  those  of  every  other  properly  organized  commu- 
nity, consist  in  making  their  own  regulations,  not  in  trans- 
gressing them  after  they  are  made  ;  and,  likewise,  in  appoint- 
ing their  own  officers,  not  in  resisting  their  authority,  nor  in 
opposing  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  When  persons  are 
put  into  office,  therefore,  by  the  free  suffrage  of  the  members, 
their  authority  is  imperative,  and  cannot  be  resisted,  but  by 
an  act  of  disorder,  partaking  of  the  properties  of  rebellion. 
And  the  only  practicable  mode  of  dispossessing  an  officer  of 
his  authority,  is  by  removing  him  from  office.  This  can  al- 
ways be  done,  however,  when  circumstances  become  such  as 
to  render  it  necessary — and  in  this  consist  the  remedial  powers 
of  the  church. 

Notwithstanding  the  principles  of  the  primitive  churches 
were  so  manifestly  democratic,  and  notwithstanding  these  are 
the  only  principles  recognised  in  the  constitution  of  Baptist 
churches,  yet  it  not  unfrequently  happens  that  our  churches 
are  more  conformed  to  the  principles  of  an  oligarchy — the 
government  of  a  few — than  to  those  of  a  republic.  It  not  un- 
frequently happens  that  there  are  persons  who  have  acquired 
influence  with  the  majority,  to  whom  the  management  of 
aflaiis  is  measurably  confided,  and  by  whom  the  church,  even 
to  the  exclusion  of  official  authority,  is  in  fact  governed. 
That  this  is  wrong,  in  principle  and  in  practice — that  it  is 
wrong,  both  on  the  part  of  those  who  assume  authority,  and 
on  the  part  of  those  who  indolently  concede  it,  can  be  doubted 
by  no  one,  having  even  a  tolerable  conception  of  a  well  or- 
ganized government.  Nor  can  it  be  questioned,  that,  to  this 
improper  departure  from  just  principles,  is  to  be  attributed  a 
large  proportion  of  the  strifes  and  commotions  that  disturb 
the  order  and  harmony  of  our  churches. 

I  of  course  mean  no  reflection  here  on  such  brethren  as, 
from  the  circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  are  com- 
pelled to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  business  of  our  churches. 
This  is  always  praiseworthy,  and  often  times  it  is  unavoid- 
able, owing  to  the  fact,  that,  did  not  such  take  the  lead,  no- 
thing would  be  done.     I  refer  to  such  only  as  use  their  iiiv 


51  Form  of  Church  Government.' 

fluence  for  partizan  purposes,  and  ore  apt  to  consider  them- 
selves as  raised  up  in  the  church  for  the  special  purpose  of 
watching  and  resisting  the  encroachments  of  pastoral  autho- 
rity. The  less  discerning  portion  of  the  members  are  made 
to  believe  that  such  arc  the  true  guardians  of  their  liberties, 
and  that  all  who  do  not  cordially  fall  into  the  same  way  of 
thinking  are  to  be  suspected  as  enemies  and  betrayers. 

I  do  mean  to  convey  a  gentle  rebuke,  however,  to  all  such 
as  passively  surrender  the  powers  properly  belonging  to 
themselves,  to  the  hands  of  others,  however  capable,  or  how- 
ever worthy.  The  truth  is,  every  individual  member,  how 
humble  and  obscure  soever  he  may  be,  is  responsible  for 
himself  and  for  the  place  he  fills.  It  is  his  duty  to  have  a 
mind  of  his  own,  to  cherish  a  personal  concern  for  the  well- 
being  of  his  church,  to  take  an  honest  and  humble  part  in  all 
her  proceedings,  and  to  keep  a  watchful,  and  even  a  jealous 
eye  over  those  who  are  at  all  inclined  to  usurp  authority,  or 
to  "lord  it  over  God's  heritage."  If  indeed  every  member 
would  thus  occupy  his  post,  and  realize  his  responsibilities, 
and  discharge  his  duties  faithfully,  in  the  church  and  out  of 
it,  in  most  cases  those  aspiring  to  undue  influence  would  be 
put  down,  the  authority  of  the  church  would  be  upheld,  or- 
der and  harmony  would  be  preserved,  and  peace  and  prospe- 
rity would  cheer  and  ornament  the  ways  of  Zion. 

It  is  sometimes  made  a  question,  whether  or  not  female 
members  are  entitled  to  a  vote  in  the  transaction  of  church 
business?  I  think  this  question  might  be  very  easily  an- 
swered, simply  by  resolving  it  into  another,  namely,  are  fe- 
males, in  the  proper  sense  of  the  expression,  members  of  our 
churches?  If  they  are,  the  question  is  settled;  because  all 
who  are  fully  and  properly  members,  are  entitled  to  equal 
privileges.  Consequently,  if  one  has  a  right  to  vote,  then 
have  all  a  right,  whether  male  or  female. 

It  has  always  appeared  to  me,  that  the  ground  on  which 
the  right  of  females,  in  this  respect,  was  disputed,  was  very 
frivolous,  to  say  the  least.  They  arc  not  competent,  it  is 
said,  in  many  matters  of  importance,  to  vote  with  discretion. 
And,  I  should  like  to  know,  if  the  same  thing  may  not  be 
said,  in  a  great  many  cases,  of  the  opposite  sex  ?  There  are, 
no  doubt,  very  many  cases  in  which  mischief  is  done  by  an 
improper  use  of  this  prerogative.  But,  I  should  be  pleased 
to  know,  what,  community,  constituted  on  free  and  equal 
principles,  is  not  liable  to  the  same  abuses  ?  And  I  should  be 
«lad  to  know,  too.  how  the  evil  is  to  be  avoided  ?     True,  we 


Items.  55 

might  have  an  article  in  our  constitutions  or  covenants,  pro- 
viding that  females  shall  not  have  the  right  to  vote.  But 
then,  what  would  become  of  their  liberty  and  equality  ? 
And  what  would  become,  too,  of  our  equal  and  independent 
form  of  church  government  ?  And  more  than  all — is  it  cer- 
tain that  such  provision  would  accord  with  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  New  Testament? 

While  I  am  clear  in  the  conviction,  that,  upon  the  princi- 
ples of  our  churches,  females  have  a  right' to  vote,  and  cannot 
justly  be  deprived  of  that  right,  I  am  also  of  the  opinion,  that 
that  right  ought  to  be  used  by  them  with  much  delicacy  and 
discretion.  On  most  questions  they  can  vote  without  hesita- 
tion :  but  on  all  doubtful  or  indelicate  points,  they  should 
either  vote  with  extreme  caution,  or  else  suspend  their  pre- 
rogative altogether.  Editor. 


I  T  E  M  S. 

The  Wife. — It  needs  no  guilt  to  break  a  husband's  heart  i 
the  absence  of  content,  the  mutterings  of  spleen  ;  the  untidy 
dress,  and  cheerless  home;  the  forbidding  scowl  and  deserted 
hearth;  these,  and  other  nameless  neglects — without  a  crime 
among  them — have  harrowed  to  the  quick  the  heart's  core  of 
many  a  man,  and  planted  there,  beyond  the  reach  of  cure,  the 
germ  of  dark  despair.  Oh  !  may  woman,  before  that  sad  sight 
arrives,  dwell  on  the  recollections  of  her  youth,  and  cherish- 
ing the  dear  idea  of  that  tuneful  time,  awake  and  keep  alive 
the  promise  she  then  so  kindly  gave.  And  though  she  may 
be  injured,  not  the  injuring  one — the  forgotten,  not  the  for- 
getful wife — a  happy  allusion  to  that  hour  of  peace  and  love 
— a  kindly  welcome  to  a  comfortable  home — a  smile  of  love 
to  banish  hostile  words — a  kiss  of  peace  to  pardon  all  the 
past,  and  the  hardest  heart  that  ever  locked  itself  within  the 
breast  of  selfish  man  will  soften  to  her  charms,  and  bid  her 
live  as  she  had  hoped,  her  years  in  matchless  bliss — loved, 
loving,  and  content — the  soother  of  the  sorrowing  hour — the 
source  of  comfort,  and  the  spring  of  joy. —  Chambers''  Lon- 
don Journal. 


Biting-  at  the  Naked  Hook. — A  minister  was  walking 
upon  one  of  our  eastern  wharves,  when  he  heard  a  man  in  a 
fishing  boat  just  pulled  up,  swearing  very  profanely,  and  re- 
solved on  reproving  him.  For  this  purpose  he  stepped  up  to- 
the  boat,  and  began  to  inquire  concerning  the  manner  of  tali- 


56  Items. 

ing  fish.  The  fisherman  answered  this  inquiry  by  saying, 
that  for  taking  such  a  kind  of  fish,  lie  baited  his  hook  with 
such  an  article.  Said  the  clergyman,  do  you  not  take  any 
without  bait  ?  No,  said  the  fisherman,  I  never  did  but  once  ; 
one  d- — — d  fool  bit  the  naked  hook.  Well,  said  the  clergy- 
man, the  devil  is  a  great  fisherman,  and  to  take  the  ambitious 
he  baits  with  the  honors  of  the  world,  and  to  take  the  avari- 
cious he  baits  with  silver  and  gold,  and  for  the  pleasure  seek- 
ers he  baits  with  sensual  gratifications,  but  the  profane  swearer 
is  like  your  foolish  fish,  he  bites  at  the  naked  hook. — Sword 
of  Truth. 


The  Latter-Day  Saints  in  Lancashire. — On  Sunday 
evening  last,  the  Radical  or  Chartist  Chapel,  at  Middleton, 
near  Manchester,  was  crowded  to  excess,  when  a  young  man 
from  Manchester,  a  preacher  amongst  the  Latter-Day  Saints, 
delivered  a  most  extraordinary  and  singular  lecture.  In  the 
course  of  his  address  he  said  there  were  upwards  of  GOO  va- 
rious religious  creeds,  but  all  of  them  except  the  Latter-Day 
Saints  were  in  the  dark,  and  not  appointed  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel;  he  also  declared  that  the  preachers  of  the  Latter-Day 
Saints  could  take  deadly  poison  without  injury — they  could 
heal  the  sick  by  the  touching  of  hands — they  could  also 
handle  serpents,  and  they  would  not  hurt  them — they  could 
speak  and  interpret  in  unknown  tongues,  and  that,  he  said, 
had  been  done  to  a  great  extent  that  day  in  the  Carpenter's 
Hall,  at  Manchester,  and  a  surgeon  had  lately  joined  their 
society  and  given  over  administering  drugs  to  sick  persons  ; 
the  above,  he  said,  were  signs  that  the  Latter-Day  Saints  were 
right,  and  all  others  were  wrong.  On  being  questioned,  he 
admitted,  that  there  were  some  persons  amongst  their  society 
who  yet  took  physic  when  sick,  but  he  replied  they  were  not 
properly  converted. 


A  geologist  who  has  lately  travelled  in  the  wrest  of  France, 
lias  made  some  curious  observations  on  the  accretions  of  the 
shores  principally  in  Vendee  and  the  ancient  Poitou.  Their 
alluvial  increase  has  been  so  great,  that  the  spot  where  an 
English  64  gun  ship  was  wrecked,  in  the  middle  of  last  cen- 
tury, is  now  the  centre  of  a  field  of  corn.  The  harbour  of 
Pryny  is  dry,  and  the  port  of  Rabaud,  where,  not  long  ago, 
vessels  of  170  tons  entered  easily,  is  now  3000  metres  from 
the  sM.  The  port  of  St.  Gilles  is  filling  up,  and  the  har- 
bour of  Gachere  is  barred.     All   this  has   occurred   within 


Summary.  57 

a  century,  and  has  proceeded  altogether  from  accumulations 
of  sand,  for  it  has  been  demonstrated  by  numerous  observa- 
tions made  at  Brest,  that  no  change  has  taken  place  on  the 
coasts  of  France  of  the  level  of  the  ocean. 


Tj-ants  growing  in  Animals. — Numerous  microscopic 
researches  lately  made  by  Dr.  Bennet,  have  led  to  some  im- 
portant discoveries  in  pathology.  That  gentleman,  in  a  com- 
munication read  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society,  has 
shown  that  several  diseases  in  man  are  to  be  attributed  to 
millions  of  minute  plants  which  grow  on  the  surface  of  his 
body.  These  skin  diseases  have  been  long  known  to  physi- 
cians, who,  however,  have  not  been  acquainted  with  their 
real  nature.  Dr.  Bennet  has  discovered  plants  growing  in 
the  lungs,  which  are  sometimes  expectorated  by  individuals 
laboring  under  consumption.  Other  vegetations  have  been 
found  in  the  inferior  animals,  as  in  birds,  reptiles,  fishes,  in- 
sects, and  molusca.  The  facts  now  announced  are  likely  to 
cause  important  changes  with  regard  to  the  nature  and  treat- 
ment of  certain  disorders. 

SUMMARY. 

The  Season. — Scarcely  ever  have  we  known  a  more  delightful  spring  than 
the  present.  A  mild  and  equable  temperature  ;  a  genial  sunshine,  relieved  by 
occasional  and  seasonable  showers  of  rain  ;  an  unusually  early  and  luxuriant 
growth  of  vegetation  ;  together  with  the  promise  of  a  bountiful  increase  of  the 
fruits  of  the  earth,  have  tended  not  a  little  to  inspire  the  hopes,  and  to  enhance 
the  pleasures  of  the  rural  economist.  Indeed  we  know  not  how  any  one  who 
has  health,  and  friends,  and  plenty  to  eat,  and  plenty  to  do,  and  books  and 
papers  to  read,  (and  the  Repository  among  the  rest,)  placed  amid  the  scenes  of 
rural  life,  in  such  a  season  as  this,  can  be  otherwise  than  happy,  contented,  and 
grateful.  Were  we  at  all  given  to  poetizing,  the  contemplation  of  such  a  theme 
could  not  fail  to  inspire  our  muse.  But,  as  this  is  not  the  case,  we  shall  con- 
clude the  present  article,  by  gently  reproving  the  ingratitude  of  those  who  have  a 
home  in  the  country,  have  enough  of  the  good  things  of  life,  are  permitted  to  taste 
the  freshness  of  the  morning  air,  are  undisturbed  by  the  tumults  and  commotions 
of  the  world,  and  yet  sigh  for  what  they  do  not  possess,  and  which,  if  possessed, 
would  only  tend  to  enhance  their  cares  and  embitter  their  enjoyments.  If  any  man 
on  earth  can  be  happy,  it  is  the  intelligent  and  independent  agriculturist,  whose 
fortune  is  placed  beyond  the  fluctuations  of  the  business  world,  whose  very 
occupation  tends  to  give  a  healthful  impulse  to  his  circulation,  and  who  is  sur- 
rounded on  every  side  with  objects  calculated  to  gratify  his  taste,  to  kindle  hia 
devotion,  to  warm  his  gratitude,  to  stimulate  his  industry,  to  allay  his  passions, 
to  enhance  his  benevolence,  and  to  make  him  in  all  respects  among  the  wisest, 

8 


58  Summcir'ij. 

the  best,  and  the  happiest  of  mortals.  While  others  sigh  for  preferment,  for  sf- 
fice,and  for  honor  ;  for  the  wealth  of  commerce,  the  bustle  of  business,  and  the 
pleasures  of  fashionable  life,  we  would  say,  with  more  sincerity  than  we  shall 
perhaps  get  credit  for,  give  us  a  few  acres  in  the  country,  with  a  due  proportion 
of  flocks  and  herds,  and  all  the  etcetera  of  agricultural  life,  and  we  will  ask  no 
more.  Here  we  shall  find  leisure,  amusement,  exercise,  and  work.  And  more 
than  all  the  rest — here  we  shall  find  fitting  occasions  for  communion  with  God, 
and  for  preparing  our  heart  for  a  better  world. 

The  Rhode  Island  (roubles  are  still  unadjusted.  It  is  said  that  both  Gover- 
nors have  taken  the  oath  of  office,  both  Legislatures  have  been  organized,  and 
both  Governments  have  been  in  operation.  It  is  stated,  further,  that  several  of 
the  officers  of  the  suffrage  or  popular  party  have  been  arrested,  on  a  charge  of 
treason,  and  have  been  held  to  bail  for  large  amounts.  The  prevailing  opinion 
is,  that  the  popular  party  will  eventually  yield,  and  that  all  will  submit  to  the 
Government  administered  under  the  old  Constitution. 

P.  S. — Since  the  above  was  prepared,  news  has  been  received,  that  the 
popular  party  has  yielded,  and  returned  to  the  quiet  habits  and  subordination  of 
every-day  hie.  The  Pseudo  Governor,  Dorr,  has  fled,  but  no  one  knows 
where. 


Temperance  in  Boston, — The  .Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  Boston,  says  ths 
Baptist  Advocate,  have  decided  to  grant  no  licenses  to  innkeepers,  retailers,  os 
victuallers,  to  sell  distilled  liquors  during  the  coming  year. 


Roman  Missions — The  following  statement,  purporting  to  have  been  taken 
from  the  Boston  Recorder,  evinces  the  energy  with  which  the  Romanists  con- 
duct their  missions  ;  and  shows,  at  the  same  time,  with  what  sort  of  a  force  Pro- 
testantism has  got  to  contend.  We  have  never  approved  the  spirit,  hor  have 
always  liked  the  means,  by  which  the  march  of  Popery  has  been  resisted  in  this 
country.  We  think  there  has  been  too  much  of  the  temper  with  which  papists 
themselves  have  been  used  to  cure  the  evils  of  heresy.  We  think,  however, 
that  it  begins  to  be  high  time  for  Protestants  to  cease  the  wrangling  among 
themselves,  and  to  unite  their  energies  in  checking  the  progress  of  "the  man 
of  sin." 

"  A  periodical  is  published  in  London  once  in  two  months,  entitled,  '  Annals 
of  the  Propagation  oi  the  Faith.'  The  following  statements  are  abridged  from 
that  publication.  They  are  to  be  taken,  perhaps,  on  account  of  the  prejudices 
of  the  writer,  with  some  grains  of  allowance.  The  number  of  archbishops  in 
the  papal  missions  is  26,  bishops  95,  coadjutors  10,  priests  4220,  Catholics 
4,583,800.  For  the  whole  catholic  world,  there  are  reckoned  about  300  bishops, 
without  counting  the  coadjutors,  suffragans,  and  other  prelates  ;  and  more  than 
152  millions  of  Catholics.  Of  these,  122,000,000  reside  in  Europe.  In  Africa, 
including  the  missions,  there  are  13  bishoprics  or  vicarates,  and  1,181,100  ca- 
tholics. In  the  new  world  there  are  73  bishoprics  or  vicarates,  and  26,641,000 
catholics.  In  Oceanica  are  reckoned  7  bishops,  about  1200  priests,  and  3,100,000 
catholics.  A  great  proportion  of  these  are  in  die  Ph'illipine  islands,  where  ia  a 
large  colony  of  Spaniards.  In  Asia  is  reckoned,  in  addition,  to  the  missions,, 
only  the  archbishopric  of  G'oa. 


Summary.  g§ 

The  receipts  of  1840  amount  to  nearly  2,500,000  francs,  or  $48-1,000.  More 
than  one  half  of  this  sum  is  subscribed  in  France.  One  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  copies  of  the  Annals  are  now  printed,  viz:  63,000  in  French,  17,000 
in  German,  16,000  in  English,  12,000  in  Spanish,  4,0t)0  in  Flemish,  18,000  in 
Italian,  and  2,000  in  Portuguese.  This  number,  published  six  times  a -year, 
gives  a  total  of  720,000  copies. 

The  receipts  of  1S39  amounted  to  about  two  millions  offranes,  showing  an  in- 
crease of  £22,000  over  those  of  the  preceding  year,  and  being  double  the  amount 
of  the  receipts  of  1S37,  quadruple  these  of  1S35,  and  six  fold  as  compared  with 
those  of  1S33. 

The  writer  proceeds  in  the  following  strain  of  self-congratulation.  "  On  be- 
holding the  concourse  of  the  faithful,  we  are  filled  with  thoughts  of  consolation. 
Unity  and  universality  are  the  most  infallible  characters  to  ennoble  an  institu- 
tion ;  they  are  the  securities  for  its  prosperity,  on  account  of  that  strength  which 
is  in  union,  of  the  ardor  which  is  in  emulation,  and  the  perseverance  which  good 
example  keeps  up  ;  if  separated  from  the  trunk  which  unites  them,  the  wide- 
spread branches  soon  wither  and  die.  But  there  are  here,  moreover,  powerful 
means  of  moral  good  ;  the  spirit  of  religion  is  revived  by  the  restoration  of  ca- 
tholic brotherhood,  henceforth  to  be  maintained  by  a  community  of  labors  and 
success  ;  by  a  monthly  circulation  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  copies 
of  the  Annals  ;  and  by  a  continual  diffusion  of  the  heroic  traditions  of  the  apos- 
tleship."  In  the  diffusion  of  "  heroic  traditions,"  the  Romanists  are  likely  ta 
receive  powerful  aid  from  a  section  of  the  English  Church. 


Revivals. — Under  the  head  of  Revivals,  the  papers  generally  abound  with 
interesting  accounts  of  additions  made  to  our  churches.  We  regret  that  we  have 
nothing  cheering  on  this  point  from  our  own  State,  and  from  South  Carolina. 
This  is  owing,  in  some  degree,  we  suspect,  to  the,  fact,  that  so  short  a  period  has 
elapsed  since  the  commencement  of  our  publication,  that  correspondents  have 
not,  as  yet,  had  time  to  transmit  their  communications.  We  hope  to  have  some- 
thing  more  cheering  from  these  quarters  in  time  for  insertion  in  our  next  num- 
ber. From  a  distance,  however,  and  especially  from  the  northern  and  eastern 
States/the  accounts  are  peculiarly  interesting. 

The  Religious  Herald,  [Richmond,]  of  May  12,  observes: 

"  Accessions  continue  to  be  made  to  the  churches  of  the  various  evangelical 
denominations  in  our  city.  On  Lord's-day,  the  First  Baptist  church  received 
an  accession  of  22  by  baptism.  The  Second  church  8,  and  the  Third  church 
the  same  number. 

The  First  Presbyterian  church  has  received,  on  examination,  an  addition  of 
about  78  members.     To  the  United  Presbyterian  church  3S. 

Additional  accessions  have  been  made  to  the  Methodist  church,  Shockoe  Hill. 
At  Trinity  church,  a  protracted  meeting  was  commenced  last  week,  which  is 
still  continued.  We  understand  that  several  have  been  converted,  and  that 
others  are  enquiring  the  way  to  Zion. 

Christ  Church,  Episcopal,  is  now  holding  a  protracted  meeting,  having  reli- 
gious services  every  night.  This  church,  the  Monumental  church,  and  St. 
James  church,  have  each  received  accessions  to  their  membership. 

Night  meetings  were  commenced  at  St.  John's  church,  on  Tuesday,  and  will 
be  continued  throughout  the  week,  and  probably  for  a  longer  period. 

From  present  appearances,  we  trust  that  many  more  persons,  in  the  different 
congregations,  are  deeply  interested  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  we  hope  that 
a  still  larger  number  of  our  citizens  may  find  peace  and  joy  in  believing." 

The  same  paper  contains  accounts  of  revivals  at  Cedar  creek  and  Betty  ville; 
znd  also  at  a  place  called  Lickinghole,  Goochland  co-,  all  of  Virginia. 


60  Summary. 

The  papers  generally,  furnish  accounts  of  revivals  at  Canton,  Nonvalk,  and 
Ashford,  Conn.;  at  Rochester,  Homer,  Utica,  Portland,  Holland  Patent,  and 
at  several  places  in  Putnam  co.,  N.  Y-;  atBedfoid  and  Indianapolis,  Indiana  ; 
at  Washington  City,  D.  C;  at  Cape  Elizabeth,  Woolwich,  Kennebunk,  and 
Lyman,  Maine  ;  at  Boston,  Lowell,  Fall  River,  and  Southborough,  Mass..  &c. 
&c.  The  revival  in  Boston,  to  which  we  alluded  in  our  last,  still  continues  to 
progress,  though  with  less  effect  than  heretofore.  At  Lowell  the  excitement 
under  the  labors  of  Mr.  Knapp  is  in  full  operation.  The  interest  is  said  to  be 
very  general  and  very  strong.  One  hundred  and  fifty-five  persons  are  reported 
to  have  been  added  to  the  First  Baptist  church  of  that  place,  a  few  Sabbaths 
ago.  The  following  communication,  which  we  copy  from  the  Religious  Herald, 
will  doubtless  be  read  with  interest ; 

Lowell. — The  most  extraordinary  and  gracious  work  is  still  progressing  in 
the  city,  and  we  are  weekly  and  daily  called  to  witness  the  power  of  divine 
truth,  and  the  triumph  of  divine  grace,  in  the  rescue  of  souls  from  the  snare  of* 
error  and  sin.  We  remarked  in  our  last,  that  we  might  give  some  interesting 
individual  cases.     We  whl  relate  a  lew. 

A  gentleman  has  related  his  experience  to  the  First  Baptist,  church,  in  sub- 
stance as  follows  : — He  was  a  Urhversalist,  and  attended  the  First  Universalist 
congregation.  He  was  alarmed  for  his  safety  some  months  since,  in  the  Uni- 
versalist meeting,  by  what  struck  him  as  not  only  asburd,  but  as  awful.  It  was 
a  funeral  sermon  preached  by  Mr.  Thayer,  the  minister  of  the  First  Universalist 

congregation,  on  the  death  of  Mr. ,  a  man  well  known  in  this  city,  who 

died  a  few  months  since.  This  traveller  to  the  spirit-world,  was  known  to  be 
intemperate  and  profane,  and  blasphemed  the  name  of  God  and  Christ  upon  his 
dying  bed  ;  from  whence  his  soul  was  dismissed  with  profane  language  amid 
the  fumes  of  alcohol,  from  the  body,  which  was  perfectly  saturated  with  brandy. 
This  man,  Mr.  Thayer  preached  directly  into  heaven,  which,  the  convert  said, 
looked  so  absurd  and  so  awful  to  him,  that  it  so  aroused  his  conscience  that  it 
had  never  since  entirely  fallen  asleep.  He,  however,  continued  to  attend  the 
Universalist  meeting,  until  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  revival. — 
Feeling  restless  in  his  mind,  he  resolved  one  Sabbath  morning  that  he  would  go 
and  hear  Mr.  Knapp,  but  on  arriving  at  the  door  of  the  house,  he  found  it  so  full 
that  he  could  not  get  in,  and  passed  on  as  usual  to  the  Universalist  meeting. — 
While  there,  such  a  gloom  and  such  a  honor  came  over  his  mind  under  the  ex- 
ercises, that  he  wished  himself  away,  and  even  became  so  alarmed  that  he  pro- 
mised God  upon  his  seat,  that  if  he  would  suffer  him  to  escape  from  that  place 
of  moral  darkness  and  death,  he  would  never  go  there  again  while  he  lived. — 
Since  that  time  he  has  attended  the  First  Baptist  church,  and  professes  to  enjoy 
peace  with  God  through  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


The  King  of  Prussia  and  the  English  Bajitists  — The  present  King  of 
Prussia,  it  seems,  has  set  an  example  of  religious  toleration  in  his  dominions, 
which  contrasts  strongly  with  the  despotism  which  prevails  in  the  neighboring 
nations  of  Germany  and  Denmark.  While  in  the  two  latter,  the  Baptists  are 
pursued  with  fines,  confiscations,  and  imprisonment,  in  the  former  they  are  al- 
lowed equal  liberty  with  those  of  the  established  religion,  in  the  entertainment 
of  their  opinions,  and  in  the  observance  of  their  worship.  And  although  this  is 
no  more  than  what  is  just  and  proper,  still,  when  the  conduct  of  other  and 
neighboring  governments  is  considered,  it  is  not  unworthy  of  notice  and  of  com- 
mendation. Accordingly,  when  the  King  of  Prussia  visited  England,  a  few 
months  ago,  to  attend  the  christening  ol  the  young  Prince  of  Wales,  our  brethren 


Sammanj.  61 


thought  it  becoming  to  address  him  on  the  subject.  The  following  is  their  ad- 
dress. Whether  las  Majesty  condescended  to  make  a  reply,  we  are  not  in. 
formed. 

"  Sire  : — On  behalf  of  the  Baptist  Union  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  (a 
body  representing  nearly  eight  hundred  churches  of  that  denomination  in  this 
kingdom,)  we  beg  permission  to  approach  your  Majesty  with  our  most  respect- 
ful congratulations.  More  especially  we  desire  to  express  our  high  gratification 
that,  on  the  one  hand,  your  Majesty  has  been  earnestly  bent  on  the  advance- 
ment, within  the  Prussian  dominions,  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  ;  and  that, 
on  the  other,  your  Majesty  has,  in  a  manner  equally  benevolent  and  jusf,  pro- 
moled  this  end  by  extending  liberty  of  worship  to  all  rcl'gious  professions.  In 
particular,  we  have  felt  ouiselves  called  upon  to  take  this  opportunity  of  declar- 
ing to  your  Majesty  our  heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  equitable  and  parental  regard 
which  your  Majesty  has  shown  to  the  congregation  of  Baptists  recently  estab- 
lished in  the  city  of  Berlin,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Lubmanu,  who 
Avas  ordained  to  the  pastoral  office  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  whom  we  most  cor- 
dially acknowledge  as  a  fellow-laborer  in  the  gospel.  We  have  the  greatest 
happiness  in  believing  that,  should  other  Baptist  congregations  arise  within  the 
kingdom  of  Prussia,  the  King  will  extend  to  them,  in  common  with  all  diversities 
of  religious  worship,  that  equal  protection  which  will  foster  a  spirit  of  concord 
among  your  Majesty's  subjects,  and  cement  the  affections  of  an  entire  people  on 
your  Majesty's  person  and  rule. 

May  the  stable  peace  and  prosperity  of  your  Majesty's  dominions,  and  the 
conspicuous  happiness  and  loyalty  of  your  Majesty's  subjects,  reward  your  en- 
lightened and  beneficent  course,  and  recommend  to  other  sovereigns  your  illus- 
trious example.  And  may  Almighty  God,  who  has  mercifully  enabled  ]'our 
Majesiy  to  confer  on  the  kingdom  of  Prussia  such  important  benefits,  so  graci- 
ously bless  your  royal  person,  that  your  reign  may  be  pre-eminently  fruitful  of 
good,  and  your  name  be  endeared  to  the  present  and  to  future  generations." 


Minutes. — Several  enquiries  have  come  to  hand  lately,  respecting  the  minutes 
of  the  last  meeting  of  our  Convention  in  this  State.  In  repl3r,  we  would  ob- 
serve, that  all  that  we  know  on  this  subject  is,  that  they  were  printed  in  the 
Recorder  office,  and  sot  ready  for  distribution,  in  December  last.  We  think 
we  were  told  by  the  Treasurer,  bro.  A.  J.  Battle,  that  he  had  sent  them  to 
Wake  Forest  College. 


Temperance. —  On  this  subject,  also  but  little  intelligence  has  come  to  hand 
since  our  last.  Mr.  Carey,  the  agent,  has  gone  to  Baltimore,  we  understand, 
with  a  view  of  returning  again  to  this  State  in  the  course  of  a  few  months.  So 
far  as  we  have  learned,  however,  the  cause  is  still  advancing.  The  friends  aro 
still  encouraged  ;  but  few  relapses  take  place  ;  the  lists  of  signers  are  gradually 
increasing,  and  the  cause  is  receivingdaily  accessions  of  popularity  and  strength. 
We  subjoin  the  following  items  from  exchange  papers: 

The  American  Temperance  Union. — The  Fifth  Anniversary  of  the  Union 


62  Summary* 

was  held  in  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  New  York,  on  'Wednesday  evening 
the  4lh  inst.  In  the  absence  of  the  President,  John  H.  Cocke,  Esq.,  of  Va., 
the  Chair  was  taken  by  the  Hon.  Thxodoiie  FriELiNGHursEN,  and  the  meet- 
ing was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cox. 

The  meeting  was  one  of  the  largest  ever  held  in  the  Tabernacle.  Every  part 
of  it  was  crowded  at  an  early  hour.  The  report  was  read  by  the  Rev.  John 
Marsh,  Secretary.  The  facts  presented  are  most  encouraging.  The  number 
of  pledges  to  total  abstinence  principles  received  since  the  meeting  of  the  Con- 
vention at  Saratoga,«on  the  5th  of  July  last,  is  over  500,000.  Of  these,  30,000 
are  from  Kentucky,  60,000  from  Ohio — 200,000  in  the  whole  West.  There, 
every  seventh  man  who  has  signed  the  'ledge  is  a  reformed  drunkard — every 
fourth  a  reformed  drinker.  In  New  York  city  there  have  been  16,000  Wash- 
ingtonians— in  Philadelphia,  20,000.  The  number  of  reformed  drunkards  in 
the  United  States  is  estimated  at  50,000,  and  it  is  found  that  they  generally 
keep  the  pledge. — The  Congressional  Temperance  Society  numbers  80  mem- 
bers. 

The  President  introduced  the  Hon.  Mr.  Marshall  of  Kentucky,  who  addressed 
the  meeting  in  a  speech  of  great  eloquence,  and  with  the  happiest  effect.  The 
Journal  of  Commerce  says — 

"  This  gentleman  electrified  the  audience,  during  more  than  an  hour,  with 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  addresses  it  has  been  our  fortune  to  hear  on  this  sub- 
ject, relieved  by  frequent  sallies  of  humor.  Room  would  fail  to  do  justice  to 
this  speech,  which,  was  listened  to,  till  the  close,  with  the  deepest  attention,  by 
the  audience." 


Temperance  in  Aiken,  S.  C. — A  great  Temperance  Reform  is  going  on  in 
Aiken.  Already  100  persons  have  signed  the  pledge,  among  whom  are  some 
"  hard  cases  ;"  of  this  number  74  are  males,  and  26  females.  But  few  intem- 
perate drinkers  are  now  in  the  place — solitary  and  alone,  they  hang  out  as  signs 
to  warn  the  careless  of  danger.  Wc  are  pleased  to  see  our  neighbor  taking  such 
an  honorable  and  worthy  stand.  Her  position  and  attraction  require  this  move, 
and  we  now  say,  "  all  hail !" — Hamburgh  Journal. 


The  Washington  Temperance  Society  in  this  town  now  numbers  about  450 
members.  Its  meetings  are  held  every  Friday  night,  and  although  they  have 
not  lately  had  that  numerous  attendance  which  characterized  them  at  the  for- 
mation of  the  Society,  yet  they  have  been  generally  of  a  highly  interesting  na- 
ture, and  not  one  has  taken  place  but  more  or  less  have  signed  the  pledge  ; 
which  is  an  evidence  that  the  good  work  is  steadily  on  the  increase — Wilmizig~ 
{•on  Chronicle. 

Home  Missions. — Our  information  on  this  head,  at  present,  happens  to  be 
very  limited.  Our  convention,  at  its  last  session,  we  have  understood,  owing 
%t  a  want  of  fund?,  made  no  appointment  of  missionaries  for  the  current  vear, 


Summary.  63 

Of  course,  we  have  no  reports,  and  therefore  no  intelligence  from  this  depart- 
ment. We  have  been  toltl  that  several  brethren  present  volunteered  a  consi- 
derable amount  of  gratuitous  service,  but  whether  any  thing  of  moment  has 
been  accomplished,  we  have  not  been  informed.  Frum  the  fact  that  we  have 
heard  nothing,  we  presume  that  but  little  has  been  done. 

From  other  sources  also  we  have  learned  but  little.     The  papers  on  this  sub- 
ject, for  a  few  weeks  past,  have  been  unusually  barren. 


A  Proposition.—  To  a  person  really  desirous  to  see  the  denomination,  in 
this  State,  furnished  with  a  useful  periodical,  and  who,  at  the  same  time,  pro- 
perly appreciates  the  value  of  such  periodical  himself,  we  are  sure  that  the  dif- 
ference of  a  dollar  or  two  in  the  cost  can  be  no  object.  Still,  however,  it  is  our 
wish,  and  our  purpose,  to  furnish  our  subscribers  with  as  much  reading  matter 
as  we  possibly  can  for  the  amount  of  compensation  they  pay.  We  therefore 
respectfully  submit  the  following  proposition:  On  the  condition  that  our  sub- 
scription list  shall  be  raised  to  1000  paying  subscribers,  we  hereby  engage  to 
increase  the  number  of  our  pages  from  thirty-two  to  forty-eight;  and  should  our 
list  be  raised  to  1500,  we  engage  to  increase  the  number  of  pages  to  sixly-four 
— that  is,  to  double  the  number  now  furnished — without  raising  the  price. 
It  is  therefore  submitted  to  the  denomination  to  say,  whether  we  shall  have  a 
large  and  cheap  paper,  or  a  small  and  dear  one.  As  the  friends  of  the  cause 
are  personally  interested  in  this  matter,  it  is  hoped  that  they  will  give  the  sub- 
ject their  early  and  efficient  attention.  '    .     Editor. 


Coiihespondexts, — We  have  as  yet  received  no  communications,  either  fo? 
insertion,  or  by  way  of  imparting  intelligence.  Our  pages  are,  therefore,  neces- 
sarily destituie  of  that  sort  of  local  matter  which  is  peculiarly  calculated  to  giva 
litem  interest,  and  which  nothing  but  a  liberal  correspondence  can  supply.  We 
trust,  however,  that,  in  a  few  weeks,  the  tide  will  begin  to  set  in,  after  which; 
we  presume,  we  shall  have  no  lack  of  information. 


Corrections. — In  copying  the  title  page  of  the  Inaugural  Discourse,  in  our 
last  number,  the  name  of  the  author,  Prof.  J.  L.  Reynolds,  was  inadvertently 
omitted — which  omission  the  reader  will  please  supply.  Also,  on  page  8,  in 
the  first  sentence  of  the  article  entitled  "  A  Christian  Church,"  the  words  to  call, 
were  omitted.  The  sentence  should  read  thus:  "The  original  Greek  term, 
corresponding  to  the  word  church,  is  composed  of  two  expressions,  which,  when 
taken  together,  signify  to  call  from,  or  out  of,"  &c.  In  addition  to  the  above, 
we  observe  some  two  or  three  verbal  errors  ;  but  none  of  much  consequence,  if 
we  except  a  misprint  on  the  first  page  of  the  cover,  which  occurred  in  part  of 
the  impression  before  it  was  discovered,  respecting  the  postage.  The  line  shoufcV 
read  thus:  "  Postage, under  100  miles,  3  cents,-  over  100  miles,  5  cents'' 


** 


81  Obituary* 

We  forgot  to  state  in  our  last  number,  as  we  intended,  that,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  we  shall  send  the  Repository  to  such  of  our  subscribers  as  may  have 
overpaid  for  the  Recorder.  They  can,  if  they  choose,  take  the  present  paper 
until  they  shall  be  refunded  ;  or,  if  they  shall  prefer  it,  the  money  shall  be  sub- 
ject to  their  order. 


OBITUARY. 

Died,  at  his  residence  in  Pasquotank  county,  on  the  19th  ult,,  in  the  43rd 
year  of  his  age,  Edward  E.  Wilson,  a  highly  esteemed  member  of  the  Salem 
(Baptist)  church.  Brother  Wilson  was  considered,  by  those  who  knew  him 
best,  an  uncommonly  good  man.  He  was  not  only  an  excellent  husband,  pa- 
rent, and  master ;  an  exemplary  christian  professor  ;  a  zealous  patroniser  of  be- 
nevolent efforts  of  every  kind ;  and  a  faithful  and  efficient  officer  of  the  church, 
of  which  he  was  deacon  for  several  years  :  but  he  possessed  those  qualities  of 
heart,  which  are  but  rarely  combined,  which  need  only  to  be  known  to  be  had 
in  universal  esteem,  and  which  entitle  the  possessor,  in  an  eminent  degree,  to 
the  appellation  of  a  good  man.  Beyond  a  doubt,  he  has  gone  to  receivo  his  re- 
ward. He  has  left  a  wife  and  two  little  children  to  mourn  their  irreparable  loss. 
The  church,  also,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  sustained  by  his  removal  a  severa 
bereavement.  The  editor  of  this  paper,  too,  in  the  death  of  brother  Wilson,  has 
lost  a  warm  personal  friend,  whose  acquaintance  he  has  enjoyed  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  at  the  announcement  of  whose  decease,  he  felt  the  anguish  of  un- 
feigned regret. 

Also,  in  Edcnton,  on  the  2'6th  April,  Mrfs.  !Waui  Brooks,  daughter  of  the 
lite  James  Gorham,  Esq,,  of  that  place,  and  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Josiah  H. 
Brooks,  formerly  of  Chatham  county.  Mrs.  B.  had  been  married  scarcely  a 
year,  was  in  about  the  10th  year  other  age,  was  buoyant  with  the  hope  of  life, 
and  was  spending  a  few  weeks  with  her  friends  at  Edenton,  when  she  was  su3* 
denly  arrested  by  death.  Though  her  summons  was  sudden,  we  arc  informed 
it  was  met  with  composure  and  resignation,  And  though  not  a  professor  of' 
religion,  such  was  the  pious  tenor  of  her  life,  and  such  the  tranquil  bearing  of 
her  last-moments,  as  to  inspire  her  friends  with  a  strong  hope  in  her  death. 
She  has  left  a  husband,  an  infant  daughter,  a  widowed  mother,  and  a  large 
circle  of  friends,  to  mourn  her  early  removal.  We  saw  her  but  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore her  decease,  and  her  cheerful  aspect,  her -agreeable  manners,  and  her  num- 
erous !-:nd  attentions,  viewed  in  connexion  with  her  subsequent  death,  have 
left  a  deep  and  melancholy  impression  on  our  heart.  Alas!  how  fickle  are  all 
human  hopes — how  fading  all  earthly  prospects — how  frail  and  evanescent  all 
sublunary  good  !  To  day,  all  is  health,  cheerfulness,  and  joy — to-morrow,  the 
dark  mantle  of  bereavement  and  mourning  overshadows  us  ! 


